Ron Weasley and the 75th Hunger games
by TerrificOtter19
Summary: Harry Potter/Hunger games mash up. Ron finds himself as the male tribute of district 11, he sets out to win but when he meets the brown bushy haired female tribute of district 7 does his plans begin to change? R/Hr
1. Chapter 1

**Ron and the 75th Annual Hunger games.**

Chapter 1: The reaping 

**Disclaimer**: I unfortunately don't own any of the HP characters.

* * *

It was a cold and misty sort of day in district 11, the only noise you could hear was the prevailing winds blowing at loose shutters and windows along the currently empty streets. However the weather wasn't the reason for the source of depression that hung within the very air of the surrounding homes of district 11, for it was reaping day, the most feared annual event for all those who had children or were themselves eligible to become a 'tribute' had begun for another year.

It had all started 75 years ago when the first wizarding war had ended in defeat for the united districts and victory for the Capital and their leader 'Lord Voldermort'. To cement the Capitals power and as punishment for the districts rebellion, district 13 had been completely destroyed taking with it thousands of innocent people, but this had not been enough destruction to appease Lord Voldermort and so he designed a tournament to further punish the rebels by every year taking 24 of their children one boy and one girl from each district and making them fight to the death for his and the capitals entertainment. There was only one victor allowed it was kill or be killed.

Ron woke suddenly to the sound of his alarm clock; it read 7:30am. After shutting off the high pitched bleeping noise he roused himself enough to get out of bed and prepare his clothes for the reaping ceremony that would begin in a couple hours' time.

Once dressed he walked down the stairs into the kitchen to be greeted to the sight of his mother fussing over his little sister Ginny and one half of the twins George who were both wearing the best clothes they owned.

"Stop fidgeting Ginny and let me plait your hair" said Mrs Weasley gently.

"I'm not a little girl anymore mum just please stop fussing" replied Ginny.

Ron looked sparingly at Ginny, "_why couldn't she understand that his mum needed to keep occupied with something so that she wouldn't dwell on that fact that she could be losing a daughter and a son to be 'contestants' today"._

"Ginny, you want to look nice for the camera's don't you? ,If you're chosen that is" Mrs Weasley Questioned.

"Mum stop thinking that Ron, George or I will get picked, it just won't happen" said Ginny confidently.

Hearing his sister Ron wished it were true, but since district 11 was the populous district out of the twelve, preliminary reaping's were always conducted to reduce the pool of possible tributes in order to fit everyone into the town centre for the live draws. This was the reason that Fred had not needed to get ready as his name hadn't be drawn to be placed in the televised reaping while his George was.

Considering that Ginny, George and himself had made it to the live reaping coupled with the fact that their names had been entered multiple times due to the need for them to sign up for terressa as they were very poor. He accepted that in fact they had a very large chance of being picked. However saying that it seemed like the Weasley family had some sort of guardian angel, as until now not one of their seven children had ever been chosen to be a tribute, despite that the odds were truly not in their favour.

Most of his brothers were too old now to be chosen as a tribute Bill, Charlie, Percy and now Fred had all escaped the dreaded fate of being chosen and he himself at 17 years of age only had to attend two more reaping until he was safe also, but it was his sister that he worried about more than himself. He knew from first hand experience that although she outwardly presented herself to be strong and fiery, that deep down she was as scared and vulnerable as she had been when she was younger. He would often find her sobbing after watching repeats of previous hunger games on the TV, and resorted to comfort her repeatedly telling her that "he would never let her get hurt " like those she had watch die during the games.

His thoughts were interrupted by George asking how he was feeling.

"Doing okay there Ron?"

"Yeah I'm fine George – are you alright?" he replied

George nodded his head as he bit down on a piece of stale bread. Silence filled the room once more.

**-OOOO-**

The four of them were walking down the now crowded streets to the town centre; Ginny in the middle one hand joined with her mum the other with Ron's grasping it tightly.

They finally arrived at the centre, boys and girls would be separated into two different pens and so Ron took Ginny to one side before they were registered.

"It's going to be okay no matter what happens alright, you understand me?" he said in a desperate effort to calm her and his own nerves.

"Yeah I believe you Ron, don't worry I'm fine" she whispered before being pulled away from him to be registered.

He was now middle of a large group of boys waiting for the ceremony to begin, anxiously ringing his hands and praying _"Please don't let Ginny be chosen"_

A golden haired woman by the name Fleur Delacor (district 11's official capital representative) hopped up onto the stage and the reaping began.

"Welcome district 11, as you all know we are gathered here today for a very exciting reason, it being the start of the 75th annual hunger games!" she spoke enthusiastically. She waited for a round of applause but none came, it was the only form of resistance that the districts had left they refused to applaud the competition that would mean the death of at least one of their own children.

Fleur continued on unfazed by the clear act of rebellion from the people. "So all we need now is two tributes, we'll start with the ladies I think, and may the odds be ever in your favour" she giggled happily.

"_This was it then_" Ron thought as he crossed his fingers and whispered repeatedly "_Not Ginny, Not Ginny, Not Ginny" _

"And the female tribute is Rosie Bell " cried out Fleur happily.

Joy flooded through Ron; "_thank god Ginny was safe for at least another year_". His gaze delved through the group of girls trying to find her, and there she was looking directly at him there eyes met and he couldn't help smiling at her fortune. She was smiling back a mix of relief and sadness etched on her freckled face.

He couldn't stop looking at her unable to believe that his prays had actually worked, when her face changed to one of utter horror. "_Now he was slightly scared what had caused this drastic change" _

Overcome with joy he hadn't heard the boy tributes name being called out until it was repeated.

"Ronald Weasley!"

* * *

There we go chapter 1 of my hunger games take.

Sorry it was a bit slow and there was no R/hr but I had to lay set the scene.

Chapter 2 will include Ron saying his goodbyes to his family and the train journey to the capital where he will get his first sight of Hermione when watching the other districts reaping ceremonies.

Oh and sorry I still have no beta so there will probably be some errors in there.


	2. Chapter 2 The Train Ride

So here's chapter 2, hope you all enjoy.

A big thanks to rhmac12 who did a great job beta-ing this chapter.

Disclaimer:i dont own any of the HP characters.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Train ride

Overcome with joy he hadn't heard the boy tributes' name being called out until it was repeated.

"Ronald Weasley!"

He heard it now, his name being called out in the sing song voice of Fleur Delacor. He was too busy praying and then celebrating Ginny's safety that he had completely forgotten that he was still in danger.

The realization that he was to become district 11's tribute now hit him like a ton of bricks. "No-oh god" wild thoughts raced across his mind at how he could possibly get out of being a tribute, but you couldn't… there was no way. No wait! There was one way- someone could volunteer in his place. He immediately thought of George trying to find him in the crowd. "George please…help me- take my place" He silently begged.

He finally met George's gaze and saw a single tear streaming down his face. Ron begged him again with his eyes "Please… help me George". George must have known what Ron was asking of him for with one small shake of his head he averted his gaze to the ground.  
"Noooo George, don't abandon me!" Ron thought desperately as he was dragged onto the stage by two peacemakers.

"Do we have any volunteers?" Fleur asked the crowd cheerfully.

Ron looked again to George for one final time, his hopes fading fast. He was still looking at the ground and made no attempt to raise his hand and take Ron's place.

"Very well then may I give you district 11's tributes: Rosie Bell and Ron Weasley!" Fleur cried out to the occupants of the town centre. The announcement was answered by a stoney silence, and Ron had time to think. If he was being honest with himself he never really expected George to volunteer for him. Brotherly love only went so far when it came to reaping day. He then attempted to pull himself together. He was on his own now, but he had no intention of giving up for he would fight to the end determined to get back from the capital and back to his family.

First things first, he would have to present himself as strong and confident to the cameras in order to impress possible sponsors and the other tributes. So when he was led off stage to be taken to the justice building in order to say his goodbyes to his family before he was taken away, he just smiled and waved to the crowd holding back his own tears that were threating to fall.

-OOOO-

He was now sitting in a plush red room of the justice building waiting for his five minutes of allocated time that he would receive to say his goodbyes.  
His mother and Ginny walked in accompanied by two peacekeepers, who told him that his time had begun and that he would have five minutes only.

His mother rushed over to him pulling him into a rib cracking embrace, sobbing heavily and whispering that she was so sorry and yet still no tears fell from his now red eyes.  
"It will be ok mum, don't worry." He whispered softly not truly believing his own words.  
She told him that she was sorry one final time and said she couldn't take anymore before leaving the room in a renewed series of anguished cries.

Ron turned now to Ginny taking in her tear stained appearance before he himself came undone and uncontrollable sobs racked through his entire body. It was a minute or so before he was able to control his breathing once more and Ginny broke the silence.

"George isn't here… he said that he couldn't face you. Dad, Bill, Charlie, Percy and Fred are already working in the fields so you've just got me to tell you to keep safe and don't die," she managed a forced smile.

He nodded slightly, unable to form any words of comfort, before she spoke once more.

"Ron, promise me one thing before you leave… promise me that you will try and win…for me," she pleaded.

"I'll try my dam best Ginny," he choked.

Tears started to form in Ginny's eyes again as she hugged him tightly, whispering "I love you Ron, and I'll see you again soon ok-ay?"

"I love you too Ginny." He mumbled into her long auburn hair. Before the doors burst open and the two peacemakers returned to tell him that time was up, the train was now leaving and of course he was required to be on it.

-OOOO-

Ron was now seated in one of the plush carriages of the train on his way to the Capital staring out of the window watching the countryside whizz by. He had been completely silent since leaving the justice building, not saying a word to anyone even to his mentor who he had brushed off with albeit a rude flick of his wrist. He had been thinking the whole time at what strategy he should use for when he was inevitably thrown headfirst into the arena. He had promised Ginny that he would try to win, and so he had to start thinking like a Career.  
He had made a list of options that he had been forming in his head.

First, in the cornucopia, he would grab a weapon and get some quick kills before making his escape. It was an extremely risky approach but without a weapon he would have no chance- he would need to get his hands on something from the cornucopia or he doubted he would survive the first night.

Second, would be to get away instantly and try and avoid the opening bloodbath. This was a tempting option at first, until he realised that he would probably freeze to death without any supplies.

Third, would be to form an alliance with Rosie, his fellow district partner. While watching several of the previous Hunger Games over the years, he had always thought that District partners should stick together until the very end; however he doubted that an alliance with Rosie would help him out at all. At first he hadn't bothered to even look at her properly when they were on stage together, but now he knew her as the tiny, golden haired twelve year old. She would be more of a burden than an asset and though it pained him to think it- she would have to die as well if he was going to keep good on his promise to Ginny.

Fourth, try and join the Career pack. It was the least appealing of his four options since he had always loathed tributes that weren't from Districts 1, 2 and 4 who joined up with the Careers. But it was a good effective method for a while if you could guarantee that they wouldn't jump you as soon as your back was turned. Nope, he had decided on principle that he would never join the Careers that were practically trained from birth for the tournament. He was not raised that way after all.

Still undecided on what his strategy would be, Ron began to think at how else he could prepare for the arena. A piece of information that his father had once offered him surfaced to the front of his brain- "Always know your opponent Ron". Of course! Why hadn't he thought of that before? He would watch the repeats of the live reaping's and try to spot the weaknesses and threats that the other tributes possessed. With his mind reeling, Ron settled himself down on the overly padded sofa in his carriage bedroom and turned on the TV concentrating hard.

The tributes from District 1 were called Draco and Lavender. Both of them looked strong, well fed and were very attractive "typical careers" Ron thought.

The District 2 tributes took the form of Cormac and Pansy. Cormac was huge, muscled and grimaced at the camera menacingly. While Pansy looked fierce and Ron thought "A little mentally unhinged".

The District 3 tributes made no impression on him as both were small and weedy. "Easy prey for the careers" he mused.

The District 4 tributes entailed a sly looking boy called Theodore and a girl who went by the name of Millicent. "She looked positivity revolting" Ron thought.

The tributes from 5 and 6 yet again made no real impression on him, they all seemed weak and under nourished. "More easy targets for the opening bloodbath" Ron guessed.

He was beginning to get bored by the time the male tribute of District 7 had popped up on the screen. Ron noticed that he was scrawny with black hair and a pair of broken glasses shoved up the bridge of his nose that was held together by some cello tape. No one but the Careers seems much of a threat, so he expected that he could overpower everyone from Districts 3, 5 and 6 put together.

Ron was reaching for the TV remote to turn it off. What a massive waste of time! He would meet them all in person any way for their training sessions before the games started, he thought.

Ron was just about to flick the off switch when a shiny lock of brown hair caught the corner of his eye; momentarily distracted from what he was doing he looked directly at the screen wondering what had caught his gaze when his jaw fell open in a truly comical fashion.

It was a girl; Ron quickly assumed that she was the District 7 tribute but he wasn't too worried about where she came from, just that he could keep looking at her forever. She was absolutely stunning, not in an obvious way like Lavender, but all the same there was something incredibly enchanting about her appearance. The way her long, brown, wild hair flowed around and highlighted her perfect face in the slight breeze, or how her chocolate brown eyes seemed to pierce into his very soul through the screen just mesmerized him.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as his gaze drifted over her entire body. The way she was standing was slightly stiff and rigid, but Ron put it down to nerves as there was an aura of pure determination etched across her beautiful features. And then she was gone, as the image on the screen changed to the male District 8 tribute and Ron came out of his trance.

He could hardly speak, bar mumbling incoherently to himself, playing the scene over and over in his head. After a few minutes he realised that he hadn't even caught her name. "I bet it's as beautiful as she is," he thought fondly.  
Bang! a warning shot fired in his head. "No… he couldn't think about her, he had to win! Remember, she is the enemy and she wouldn't be doing him any favours."

Feeling tired, Ron decided to turn in for the night. As he drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but think that the Careers were no longer his greatest threat after all.


	3. Chapter 3: Preparations

Right so here's chapter 3,

* * *

Chapter 3: Preparations

Feeling tired, Ron decided to turn in for the night. As he drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but think that the Careers were no longer his greatest threat after all.

He was sprinting up a daisy covered hill top, (why he had absolutely no idea), but he just knew he had to reach whatever was waiting for him on the other side. After what felt like hours (which was probably more like minutes), he had reached the summit. He could see all around him an expansive green field filled with dandelions lay to the west. A solitary oak tree stood in the centre of the wide plain. In the distance, he could see a red and white checkered blanket that lay a couple of feet away from the tree with a picnic basket rested unattended in the middle of the blanket. He strolled towards it, licking his lips in anticipation, imagining the wonderful treats that were concealed by the woven lid of the basket. As he was approaching the basket, he heard a voice.  
"You came then."

Ron was startled since he had thought that he was completely alone. He looked up quickly but first the sunlight dazed him as he was then able to make out a silhouette of a girl perched elegantly on a sturdy looking branch …he squinted in order to make out who it was…oh he should have guessed it would have been her- untamed, silky, brown hair falling past her shoulders as she smiled down at him, raising a fine eyebrow questioningly.

"Should I come down?" she said seductively.

He gulped before replying in a wheezy voice "Err- yes please."

She jumped down from the branch almost in slow motion and landed far too lightly on the blanket Ron thought.  
She began to lie down on the blanket, her elbow propped her up and she moved her legs so that they were tucked back behind her.

"Aren't you going to join me?" she asked gazing almost longingly at him to come closer.

He didn't move. 'This couldn't be real… could it?' he thought. It was just somehow too perfect to be true.  
She started beckoning him over, pouting slightly when he didn't react instantly.  
Even if it wasn't real he might as well enjoy it while it lasted he concluded, and so sat down next to her rubbing his hands over his jeans trying to discretely wipe the sweat away.  
She looked much happier now he was within arm's reach. "Are you hungry?" she asked him playfully gesturing to the basket but biting her lip and looking directly into his eyes as she did so.

Oh god- he had never been more excited in his life as his jeans were getting exceedingly tight now, but he managed to nod his head in confirmation to her question.

"What do you want to eat first?" she asked, eye brows rose in a teasing manner.  
His response just spilled from his mouth before he had a chance to process what he was saying "You".

Her smile became wider as she said, "Good, because you just look delicious." She licked her lips and her head tilted forwards towards him.

He groaned in anticipation of what he knew would happen next, their faces were getting closer and closer as their lips parted and their eyes never left the others.

"BANG!"  
Ron was woken abruptly from his dreams of green fields and brown haired girls, by the initial crash and then the loud booming voice above him.  
"Get up now, we've arrived," his mentor said gruffly.  
"What- arrived where?" he asked sleepily.  
"The Capital of course- come on get up, NOW!" he shouted.  
"Wo-ah what's the rush?" Ron complained still not quite with it yet.

"Look, you've already slept in; we've got a busy day. You have to meet your stylist and then we get to have a little chat about your strategy and how you're going to present yourself in the live interviews later… alright?" He said all this in a very slow, drawling manner like he was talking to a small child.

Ron couldn't help but think that Darren (his mentor) could have made his speech a little less patronizing, but even he admitted that he deserved the lecture for his own dawdling.

"So get dressed- you have 5 minutes before you're supposed to meet your stylist. Don't be late." Darren warned.  
Ron was left alone in the room once more and after scolding himself due to the mess he had made with the almost implausible amount of drool that soaked his pillow, he started to get dressed.

A plain orange t-shirt and jeans would suffice he thought. He left his room following the instructions Darren had given him to find his stylist's dressing room.

-OOOO-

Ron felt mentally drained; he had just experienced the longest two hours in human history. He had just come out of his session with his stylist Madam Rosemerta and "Christ" was she the most tedious and annoying person he had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Didn't she understand that he was a bloke and therefore his priorities for when choosing clothes were:  
1. The clothes actually covered his body?  
2. They were comfortable to wear.

He had been forced to stand still for hours on end while she had continuously rambled on about the latest fashions, while occasionally getting him to try something on before looking at him critically and then saying, "Oh dear, no that just doesn't work!" before returning back to her obsessive monologue.

They had eventually decided upon a plain white shirt and a dark grey suit with matching trousers completed by a midnight blue tie that apparently "brought out his eyes". Ron only rolled his eyes in disbelief when he heard her opinion on the matter.

Throughout the session Ron had thought to himself that he didn't need a stylist to know that the outfit that they had chosen would be his best look as the many other garments that now littered the sides of the room were positivity ghastly; and yet he was still obligated to give his thanks to her and watch as tears welled in her eyes as she admired the "miracle transformation" she had apparently created.

Ron didn't know whether he should be offended or just plain exasperated when she said this, but to be honest he didn't give a damn. He was just thankful it was now over and he wouldn't have to see her again for a second session any time soon.

He had been told by Darren that once his session with Rosemerta was over to come and find him so that they could start their talk on tactics. He found himself resorting to ask someone who he assumed was a guard, as to where he would find Darren, but the guard it seemed couldn't be bothered to open his mouth to tell him verbally where was Darren. Instead, he opted to pointing and gesticulating wildly to a door far down the hallway.

Completely baffled by the strange event, Ron absentmindedly walked through the ajar door to be greeted by the sight of his mentor lying back on a grand sofa drinking from a silver goblet.

Darren looked up before snorting, "Had a fun time with Rosemerta?"

"No it was bloody terrible!" Ron replied honestly.

"Thought you'd say that," Darren grinned. "Ready to get down to the real business then?"  
Ron nodded his confirmation.  
"Great- well, listen up 'cause I'm only going to tell you this once. Soon as the games start, run, grab a weapon and a pack and get the fuck out of there preferably into some woods if there are any. Just head off somewhere that can provide you camouflage and protection."

"Next, find a water supply and a food source and just camp it out till they've all killed enough of each other so that you can take out the rest. Alright, you've got that?" said Darren extremely quickly.

"Right, so this method is guaranteed to make me win- is it?" asked Ron dubiously.

"Well it's exactly what I did when I won my games," replied Darren.

"So you don't recommend me forming an alliance with anyone then?" questioned Ron.

"Nope not really, other than the Careers, you… oh and the guy from District 9; all the other tributes look quite small and weak so it would be a waste of time teaming up with any of them since they would just probably increase the chances of your own death if you joined them".

"Oh ok-ay." said Ron quietly. He had been secretly hoping that Darren would advise him to make friends as he subconsciously wanted to have a reason in order to start a conversation with the District 7 girl he had dreamed about all night.

"Why Ron? Was there any one that you had your eye on?" Darren asked a little too knowingly for Ron's liking.

"Well, I, erm yeah I- thought that maybe that… the girl from District 7 would be a good choice. I mean she looked very creative and quick witted… she could be a useful asset, right?" He said very quickly.

"She's made quite an impression on you, hasn't she?" Darren asked correctly.

"Not all at, why would you think that?" Ron replied hastily.

A wide grin spread across Darren's face as he said, "One more thing Ron… when you're in the arena, try not to talk in your sleep- it may just give your position away, all that moaning you do and all".

* * *

So there you go it was really more of a filler chapter than anything, but i felt it was nessercery. We've still got the interview and a couple days worth of training to go until the actual games start so, bare with me.

Thanks again to rhmac12 who beta-ed this for me.

and reviews are always appriecated good or bad as long as a can improve my writing.


	4. Chapter 4: The Training centre

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HP charaters

* * *

Chapter 4: The Training centre

A wide grin spread across Darren's face as he said, "One more thing Ron… when you're in the arena, try not to talk in your sleep- it may just give your position away, all that moaning you do and all".

Ron's mouth fell open. He didn't even realise that he talked in his sleep and he suddenly felt exceptionally embarrassed that Darren had heard him when he was having such a good dream. 'Damn it', he thought. He knew he would have to be more careful when he was in the arena, especially if there was a certain District 7 female tribute nearby who could possibly hear him should he nod off unknowingly.

"You will get to meet her in person tomorrow at training" said Darren calmly.

"Oh god what am I going to say to her?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"How about you start with-Hello, my name is Ron… what's yours?" Darren said dryly.

Ron looked up his eyes narrowing "You're taking the piss out of me aren't you?"

"Of course I am… I mean, it's absolutely absurd at how you're completely smitten with a girl that you've never even met and who will be trying to kill you".

"Shut up Darren, I'm not in love with her!" Ron said heatedly.

"Yeah – right, you keep telling yourself that Ron." Darren joked.

"Can we just change the subject please?" Ron asked testily.

"Sure, now we need to think about how you're going to present yourself for the live interviews". Darren circled Ron, eying him up and down and then proceeded to say, "You need an angle of some sort…so, are you smart, funny, modest? We need something that will make the audience like you." Darren explained. Then under his breath, Darren said, "Your charm sure as hell won't win you votes".  
"HEY!" Ron said indignantly. "I can be very charming when I need to be!"  
"Yeah right", Darren spoke. Ron just glared at him scathingly.  
"Ok, ok, enough, I am sorry. Let's get back to the task at hand. Smart, funny, or modest?" Darren said.

Still feeling annoyed Ron answered, "Hmm I'm not really that smart; I can be funny sometimes but I doubt that the Capital's audience would appreciate my humour since most of my jokes take the mick out of the Capital you see."

"Okay forget about an angle then, maybe you should just be honest since it's the easiest policy. Answer the questions truthfully and try and get a laugh in there somewhere, alright" said Darren.

"Alright then, what type of things are they likely to ask me?" asked Ron.

"Oh I expect that you'll be asked questions like your strengths as a tribute or things about your upbringing in District 11, or why people should sponsor you…you know, stuff like that," remarked Darren.

"Right I should be able to handle it then." Ron said confidently.

"Good, so you have three days of training and then your interview before going into the arena". Darren said matter of fact.

"You don't have to remind me that I'll be fighting for my life in less than four days." Ron said dully.

"I know mate but you need to be prepared, let's go over the schedule for tomorrow then you can have some dinner and get an early night's sleep," said Darren sympathetically.

"Fine… go ahead," said Ron.

"So tomorrow we wake up at seven and then there's a short drive to the training centre. When we get there, I'll take you on a small tour of the building showing you your new accommodations. Then you have your first session of training which lasts for three hours before a one hour lunch break at noon, and then training resumes until five a clock when you then have dinner and free time until bed." Darren explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad." Ron admitted. "What kind of stuff do we learn in training?" Ron asked.

"Everything… you have free reign in there so you can attend any different station you choose. The stations will range from knot tying to archery," said Darren.

"Knot tying." Ron snorted "How useless!"

"I beg to differ. In fact, I would advise attending some stations like knot tying and edible plants. You would be surprised to see how useful they could be when you're in the arena. Knot tying can help you trap animals or even other tributes; and knowledge of edible plants may be the difference between life and death when food supplies run low." Darren clarified.

"Really? I would have thought that sword handling or weight lifting would be more valuable skills to practice." Ron inquired.

"Yes, learning how to wield a weapon is obviously the most important art in the arena but it would be best if you learnt something new rather than weightlifting that you can do already. "Darren said kindly.

"Yeah I suppose that does make sense. Thanks Darren for your help." Ron said as he made an effort to leave and return to his bedroom where he would order some food before he went to sleep.

"No problem Ron. I'm only doing my job." said Darren.

Ron feeling extremely tired now was nearly out the door when he heard Darren speak once more.

"Hey, Ron! Good night and sweet dreams." He said laughing at his own joke.  
Ron wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of a reply and merely scowled as he left the room and returned to his bedroom.

God, it had been an awfully long day but hopefully he would wake up refreshed for another long one tomorrow.  
He supposed there was one good thing about being a tribute; until the Hunger Games actually started you could eat an endless supply of expensive delicious foods that were just brought to your room on your command.

Feeling content with a full stomach, Ron fell asleep exceedingly quickly. However, it was only too soon before Darren's voice woke him once more from his slumber, as well as his current dream of Hermione Granger.

"Up you get!" Darren commanded. "We leave for the training centre in ten minutes!"

"I'm coming, Darren." Ron said sleepily. Then, he added (quietly), 'You bloody woke me from my dream again about Hermione'.  
"I'm sorry to disturb your dreams lover boy, but we need to get going, NOW!" Darren hollered.  
Begrudgingly, Ron rolled out of bed to go and get ready.

It only took him a few minutes to get ready and so he met Darren before being shipped off to the training centre. They had finally arrived and after a short tour of the building that included the roof top that Ron wasn't entirely sure that Darren was supposed to show them, he now found himself standing outside the training hall with Rosie trying to buy time before he finally entered.

"Ron, why are we waiting outside the training hall? Darren said we would already be late and everyone will be waiting for us," asked Rosie in a small voice.

Ron thought to himself as he could hardly tell Rosie that the reason he was afraid to enter was the fact that the girl from his dreams would be in there and he didn't feel ready to face her yet.

Rosie sighed before grabbing Ron's arm in a surprisingly firm grip and opened the grand doors herself, pulling him behind her.

Ron now aware that he hadn't replied was now trying to extract himself from Rosie's grip in an attempt so that he wouldn't look like a complete baby when seen by the other tributes. Too late though since Rosie had successfully managed to drag him into the vast hall where training would take place, and all the tributes had seen him enter holding the hand of a twelve year old girl and would now consider him a complete weakling.

Yes, he had been correct in his assumption as some of the Careers were now laughing loudly at him; even the smaller undernourished tributes were looking at him reproachfully, probably thinking that he was a total wimp and an easy target. He couldn't even bear to look at her now since she must think he was an absolute coward having to be reassured by a twelve year old girl for god's sake.

An instructor spoke, wiping his mind of more dark thoughts. "Welcome… now that everyone is here, we can begin. You all have three days to learn how to survive before you go into the arena- here you can attend any station you like. However, there are some rules you must adhere to while training. You cannot fight with any other tributes within the training hall- leave that for the arena; if you want to practice combat, ask an instructor to help you. Now that's clear, you are free to train… good luck!"

Noise filled the hall as tributes rushed over to a chosen station. Ron stood still eyeing up each one in turn deciding what to pick first. As Darren had suspected, the majority of the tributes had ran over to where the weaponry was located in order to get there first lesson with a knife; or if you were the Careers, trying to intimidate everyone with their expert handling of the swords, spears, axes and bows provided.

His eyes fell upon the Knot Tying station since only one tribute was currently positioned there; her long wavy brown hair was catching the light as it moved when she tilted her head. Ron gulped before making up his mind since he had already made a fool of himself. He figured he couldn't make it any worse, after all. He steeled himself and approached the station.

"Hey," he said.

She turned around; a look of surprise crossed her beautiful features at being addressed, before echoing his words, "Hey."

He remembered Darren's advice from yesterday. "My name's Ron," he said extending his hand out to her.

"Hermione," she said looking at his hand, probably considering whether she should take it.

His smile widened he had been right- her name matched her perfectly. Hermione suddenly became his favourite word.

She looked up bewildered at his goofy grin, but she took his hand none the less maybe considering it as a challenge.

Something unexpected happened at her touch as a burst of energy shot through him rushing from his finger-tips around his body like a current of electricity. He pulled away- it didn't exactly hurt but it certainly felt weird as he gazed at her, confusion flooding her face. Had she felt it too?

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There we have it chapter 4

Thanks to my beta rhmac12 who did a great job improving this chapter.

Chapter 5 onwards will have more action, we have 3 days of training the interview then its straight into the arena.


	5. Chapter 5: In Training (part 1)

Wow its almost been a week since ive updated sorry bout that, ive been so busy lately.

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Chapter 5 In Training (part 1):

Something unexpected happened at her touch as a burst of energy shot through him rushing from his finger-tips around his body like a current of electricity. He pulled away. It didn't exactly hurt, but it certainly felt weird as he gazed at her, confusion flooding her face. Had she felt it too?

If she had felt it as well then she didn't mention it; maybe she was thinking the same thing as him, so they wouldn't look stupid if the other hadn't felt it too.  
'Pull yourself together Ron… it was nothing, just keep going' he told himself.

"You're from District 7, right?" Ron asked obviously knowing the answer he would receive.

"That's right," she said sounding marginally surprised. "You're from District 11." It was a statement not a question and Ron wondered how she had remembered. Judging by her response, maybe he had made an impression on her as well.

"I am in fact, how did you know?" he asked genuinely curious. She blushed faintly before answering "I- well your… hair! Yes your hair… it sort of stands out," she smirked.

He should have known that his hair and freckled complexion was a dead give-away. It wasn't common being a redhead in the districts, so of course that would also mean he was at a large disadvantage when in the arena as his red hair would be more easily noticeable than the more mainstream colours.

"So are you any good at knot tying?" Ron asked.

"Not really. I just came over here in the first place since I know that I'll be pretty useless with combat so I might as well learn something new and not embarrass myself in front of them," she indicated the six Careers who were now throwing spears with ease across the hall hitting dummies squarely in the head and chest. Hermione shivered as she knew within the arena those throws would be instant kills.

"Well you're in luck! I happen to know a lot about knot tying." Ron said.

"Really?" Hermione questioned uncertainly.

"Yep. I was the first one in my class who could tie their shoelaces," Ron said proudly.  
She stared at him in amazement and then collapsed into a fit of laughter. "You're not being serious, are you?" she wheezed.

As a matter of fact he was being serious but if she thought he was joking he would play up to it and boy did he want to be responsible for replicating that beautiful laughter which was now his favourite sound.

"Yeah! I could do a double knot by the age of 5." Ron said, smiling fondly at her.

She giggled briefly again before suddenly stopping in mid breath. Ron had just realised it too as the bustling noise behind them had ceased, and the hall was now filled with a deadly silence. As he looked around, all the tributes and indeed some of the instructors were staring at them with expressions that ranged from the mildly confused to the downright furious. All six Careers were glaring at Ron and Hermione, apparently angered that they were getting along so well.

"Ignore them." Ron said before turning to face her once more. "I'll teach you how to perform a double knot if you like."

"Sure," said Hermione a little rattled but otherwise unperturbed.

They seated themselves on the small rug at the station picking up a long piece of string each and sat facing each other as Ron demonstrated to Hermione the precise intricate hand movements and loops required achieving a strong knot; but when Hermione tried to copy him, she only succeeded in tangling the rope into a complex bundle.

"I don't understand what I did wrong," she complained.

"Here- I can direct your hands for you, that is… if you don't mind." Ron said hesitantly hoping that she would let him.  
"Ok-ay," said Hermione turning a slightly brighter shade of pink. Ron took her hands in his and picked up a new piece of string. He didn't feel the electric current again, which in some ways he was thankful.  
Oh god her hands were so small and soft and they fit perfectly in his own, but he had to get to the job at hand. He directed her by holding onto her wrist in order to have some control over her movements.

"Hold one end in your right hand," he instructed.

"Uh huh," she complied willingly.

"Now, create a loop and thread the other end of string through it". She was following his commands flawlessly.

"Good- now, twist that end around the loop and tug." Ron said brushing against her wrist as he did so. She shivered but managed to complete the movement forming a strong tight knot.

"I did it, thanks Ron," she beamed at him.

"No problem. I'm always happy to help out a friend." he said grinning lopsidedly at her.  
"I'm a friend… am I?" she said wistfully looking down at her shoes.

"Err… yeah. I would say you're a friend," said Ron although he wished her to be more than a friend; but he would take it, as it would be impossible that they could be anything more than friends in their current predicament.

They sat in silence for a while, since Ron had shown her the correct hand movements. Hermione had taken to knot tying like a fish to water as it was clear that she was a keen, quick learner as her perfect hands now were gliding through the air making all sorts of knots, snares and nooses.  
Ron culminated his own exertion to pause and look over at Hermione who was bent over slightly, meticulously fastening and then untying several strands of rope that were beginning to resemble the appearance of a net. She was biting her lip in concentration and a bead of sweat rolled down her exposed neck. 'She couldn't have looked better if she tried' Ron thought. The way she was biting her lip sent blood rushing to his groin and he had to contain himself in case he let go of his urge to lean over to lick the sweat from her neck.  
Her fingers looked red and raw and he looked down to see that his own were in a similar condition. How long had they been sitting here he wondered as time had almost flown by and sure enough the instructors were calling a halt to the training session as three hours had passed and it was now time for lunch.  
The instructor shouted, "Time is up! Follow the corridor to the canteen and head for lunch."

Ron was about to set off towards the canteen with Hermione, when a girl called his name from behind. Both Ron and Hermione turned to witness the source of the voice. It was Lavender. She walked up to Ron, standing a bit too close for comfort before saying, "Ron can I speak to you in private?" She was also biting her lip, but in a completely different manner to how Hermione had done moments ago, and the top button of her shirt was undone showing a small amount of cleavage. However, rather than making him feel excited like when Hermione had done it, he felt uncomfortable and on edge.

She took his arm and dragged him away from the crowd without waiting for any response and said, "So I wanted to speak to you because there's an alliance forming and we wondered if you wanted in since you're strong and can handle yourself."

"I'll think about it." Ron said, not wanting to commit an answer but knowing that he would never accept Lavender's offer.

"Ok, but let me know when you make your decision." Lavender whispered in a low voice before she strutted off towards the canteen.

Ron didn't know how long he could evade Lavender's and the Careers' offer; he would just have to think quickly of a way that he could refuse while not making himself a prime target.

Walking into the lunch hall, Ron noticed that all six Careers were seated around the largest table talking and laughing loudly, occasionally looking over their shoulders at the other tributes with contempt on their faces. Ron assumed that they were trying to scare everybody by making it clear that they had already formed an alliance with each other.  
Ron watched the District 9 boy (who he now knew was Lee Jordan). Darren had noted Jordan as the only other tribute (besides Ron and the Careers) who weren't either small or weak, walk up to the Career table and attempted to start a conversation with them. 'Coward,' Ron thought. He was clearly trying to seek protection from them by attempting to join forces. However, surprisingly they seemed to accept Lee as he took a seat next to Theodore, who actually patted him on the back firmly as he sat down.

After shaking his head in disgust and confusion, his eyes travelled around the canteen searching for Hermione. He saw her sitting next to Rosie in the right hand corner of the room at a small table. They seemed to be giggling and occasionally taking furtive glances in his direction.  
'Great,' Ron thought. They were probably laughing at how he had been so scared to enter the hall earlier, but nevertheless, he collected his food and made his way over to them in the corner.

"Hey," Ron greeted the two girls.

"Hi!" They both said in unison.

He took a seat opposite Hermione before tucking into his food. "So, what did Lavender want then?" asked Hermione in a disgruntled tone.

"Oh she wanted to see whether I wanted to join the Career alliance," mumbled Ron between mouthfuls of chicken and potatoes.

"What did you say?" asked Rosie timidly.

"Said I'll think about it," replied Ron again managing to spit potato chunks everywhere.

"Ron, finish your mouthful before you speak," Hermione instructed impatiently.

"So… are you going to… join them?" asked Rosie again. Her voice wavered, indicating the nervousness she had for his reply.

"Course not, only a coward or a traitor would join with the Careers," said Ron aggrieved that Rosie would even think that he would consider teaming up with them.

Hermione and Rose let out a sigh of relief and changed the topic to a lighter conversation about their lives back home. Ron listened for a while, but inevitably found himself losing track of the conversation as he plowed through his food.

A couple of minutes later Ron had finished his plate and smacked his lips together in appreciation of the meal. "Bloody hell that was delicious… do you think we'll be allowed seconds?" Ron asked seriously, craning his neck around to see whether anyone else was collecting more food.

"You can't be serious Ron! How can you still be hungry?" Hermione asked astonished. "You've just eaten a full course meal!"

He turned around again, his eyes locking onto her half-finished plate as his stomach grumbled loudly. "I have a large appetite is all… hey, are you going to eat that cake?" he asked cheekily.

"Yes I was- but I suppose if you're that desperate then we could share it." Hermione said grinning. Then she did something incredible as she took her own fork and speared a piece of cake; she reached across the table directing the fork to his mouth.

Sweet Jesus! She was feeding him! This was the most sensuous experience he had ever had, as he could feel his jeans tightening and his mouth watering at the sight of her bending over the table to reach him. As she was bending over, he saw a tantalizing patch of skin underneath her collar bone exposed for his eyes to feast upon.

He took the fork into his mouth and pulled back slowly, delving into her eyes as he did so. They seemed to be a darker shade of brown than when he had scrutinized them earlier. She was subconsciously licking her lips as he cleaned his own, savouring the taste of the chocolate cake on the tip of his tongue. 'This was too hot', thought Ron as he was sure that he would make an embarrassing mess in his pants if it got any more intense than it was already. Yet, they continued gazing at each other, neither being able to break the others' gaze as if it were an unspoken competition between the pair.

"Wo-ah… guys, get a room!" voiced Rosie in a teasing manner.

Both Ron and Hermione, who were now seemingly broken from their shared trance, blushed impressively. They both stammered, giving apologies and excuses for their behaviour. "Sorry, Rose… I think the heat must be getting to me…" Hermione faltered.

However, the room had fallen silent as everybody was now staring at the interaction between Ron and Hermione. Even Rose, sitting next to Hermione, looked a bit overwhelmed by the scene she just witnessed.

A bell rang, breaking the silence to signal that lunch was over. The instructors then called everyone back to the training hall for the afternoon session to commence.

Ron tried to avoid Hermione for most of the afternoon session as he had to let his nerves calm down after their time in the canteen together. He busied himself at the fire making station, using small shards of flint or sticks to create a spark and start a controlled fire, which he then put out and attempted to recreate once more.

Ron was now walking back down the hallway towards his bedroom, while thinking about the day he just had earlier. It had been a long day, but it had been exceptionally enjoyable as he had met Hermione in person finally. Ron thought, 'she was as brilliant as her dream form'. They had actually become what Ron considered friends, as they had an extraordinarily intense moment earlier that he wasn't sure meant anything, but was still buzzing over since the experience.  
He couldn't wait to spend another training session with her, although he thought he would have to test out some weaponry sooner or later, as it wouldn't be productive if he spent all of his time knot tying and fire making.  
He strolled absentmindedly down the corridor, not really paying attention and therefore not noticing that Darren was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe to his bedroom.

He made to open the door, but a thick hairy arm blocked him from his goal. "Hey! Ron! Do not ignore me." Darren said clearly annoyed.  
"Huh? Uh sorry… I guess I was day dreaming." Ron replied truthfully, for he had truly not recognised that it was Darren in front of him.

"Yeah I bet you were… how is she then." Darren said unenthusiastically.

"Brilliant. She's even more beautiful than I imagined; she's clever, funny, kind, witty, caring, brave ,gorgeous and really sexy… oh and did I say beautiful because Christ she looks like an angel and…

"Wo-ah Ron! I get it! She's great, yeah?"

"She's incredible Darren. I'm going to ask if she wants to become allies." Ron said.

"No, I forbid you," said Darren sternly.

"Wh-at!" Ron sputtered.

"You won't be becoming allies with her ok? It's my job to make sure you win and she won't help you do that… you know I'm actually wondering if you do still want to win because hell, you're not going about it the right way if you are."

"I will win, ok?" Ron said not looking at Darren.

"You're really in love with her, aren't you?" stated Darren simply.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? I mean, yeah I said she was beautiful, kind, caring and all, but…I want to win! I need to see Ginny and my family again." Ron protested.

"If you win… Hermione dies Ron." Darren said bluntly.

Ron's face paled. Deep down he knew that, but he was still living in a dream world where both of them would survive and live happily ever after. He didn't want to think about her death as it was almost more frightening than thinking of his own possible demise. Now, as he thought about it, his stomach turned at the thought of her being hurt. He couldn't let that happen as he wanted to protect her, but doing so would mean his own death.

No, nobody would get in his way from him seeing Ginny again, even if he couldn't kill Hermione himself; it was more than likely that someone else would do the job for him, although it pained him to think it. She, like Rosie, had to die. But this didn't change the fact that he wanted her as an ally, as he wanted to spend as much time as was physically possible with her. He figured if there was the chance that he couldn't win then he would do all he could to ensure that Hermione would, if that were the case.

He rudely pushed Darren out of the way, slamming the door in his mentor's face. He didn't care about the threats he was now hearing through the thin wood or the consequences he would have to face tomorrow for his rash actions.

He was so tired and therefore sleep should have come easily for him, but it just wouldn't. He was confused as images of Hermione kept popping up in his head, seeing her lifeless form in a pool of blood; he felt sick, tears stinging his eyes. Maybe Darren was right. It wouldn't hurt this much otherwise; maybe he was in love with her and if that was the case, he would do anything to make sure she survived- even if that meant giving up his own life.  
"I'm sorry Gin…" Ron muttered as tears came to his eyes, trying to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: In Training (part 2)

So here's Chp 6-took longer than expected to post.

Okay so just a warning guys chapter 6 gets a little bit violent but what do you expect from a hungergames based plot its rated M for a reason. Hope no-one is put off by this and i hope you enjoy regardless.

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**Chapter 6: In Training (part 2)**

Light was streaming through the blinds of his bedroom, reflecting off of the many mirrors and ornaments that were scattered around the walls and onto Ron's closed eyelids.

Ron rolled over to try and escape the bright light by pulling his pillow over his head. He doubted that he could go back to sleep when it was so sunny. 'Wait!' if it was light, then what was the time? He sat up abruptly looking at the bedside clock, 'Holy Shit' it was 8:45! Not only had he missed breakfast, but he also realized that there were only15 minutes until the second day of training started.

Why hadn't Darren woken him up? – Oh…right… Darren must be ignoring him for his rude behaviour yesterday. 'Just freakin terrific' thought Ron. Without giving that further thought, Ron quickly darted over to the wardrobe and grabbed the nearest items of clothing. Pulling them on frantically, he realised he hadn't even had a shower yet. Crap! He would have to get undressed again and have the quickest shower known to man and then sprint down to the training hall. Figuring he could probably skip the shower part, he then decided against it. After all, he couldn't show up smelling like a pig for Hermione, could he now? A smile crossed his face as he thought of being near Hermione again and so he rushed to take his shower.

It took him just over 20 minutes to rush down to the training hall. He burst through the doors to find everyone waiting for him once again, because even Rosie hadn't bothered to wait up for him this time. She was currently standing next to Hermione as both girls wore identical exasperated expressions on their faces and were shaking their heads in sync in mock disappointment at Ron.

"Try and be on time Weasley! If this happens again tomorrow, we will be forced to take away some of your personal training time as a punishment," warned a moody instructor to his left.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." Ron promised sincerely. He sure as hell wouldn't be relying on Darren anymore and decided that it was best to set his own alarm so that he wouldn't miss breakfast. 'God he was hungry' but he started grinning as he considered that Hermione might want to share her lunch again with him. Or maybe he was just being overly hopeful; after all it was unlikely that she would repeat that incredible gesture. He however would still cross his fingers when the time came though.

"Good, well then let training commence," announced the same instructor, breaking Ron from his spiralling thoughts.

A clatter of feet filled the hall as tributes ran over to their chosen stations.

Ron moved over to where Hermione and Rose were currently standing, looking around the vast hall for possible places to attend.

"So, do you have any preference of station?" Ron asked.

"Well, I wanted to try out the rock and rope climbing station," said Rosie excitedly.

"Yeah, that sounds quite fun and it will definitely come in handy if you're getting chased." Ron agreed.

"Are you coming Hermione?" Rosie asked, noticing the fact that she hadn't spoken at all yet.

Hermione nervously looked over to where the rock and rope climbing area was, her eyes wandered over Lavender who was currently scaling the rocks with ease. "Err… I thought we could all try out the edible plants section today?" she said quietly.

"Oh, well see you then, coming Ron?" Rosie asked.

"Umm…" Ron said trying to buy some time, looking back and forth between Rose and Hermione while trying to decide who to follow. He had just practically promised Rosie that he would accompany her, but really he wanted to spend more time alone with Hermione.

Rosie smiled knowingly. "You don't have to come with me Ron, _especially_ if you would rather spend time with Hermione," she teased.

"No, it's just that knowledge of edible or poisonous plants would be extremely useful in the area." Ron stuttered out hurriedly.

"So would be rock climbing- you could get to high ground and out of the reach of enemies." Rosie quickly countered.

"Well, maybe we could do that after lunch." Ron suggested looking back at Hermione.

"Whatever… I'll see you guys later then." Rosie smiled sweetly before shooing Ron away. "Have fun," she giggled.

"Yeah… sure." Ron said feeling particularly embarrassed while marching off to the edible plants station right before his face could become an even greater shade of red. However, he turned around just in time to see Hermione mouthing a silent 'Thank you' to Rose who returned it with a discreet thumb up.

Ron watched as Rosie rushed off to start on the ropes as Hermione made her way over to him.

"Hey." She said shyly as she approached him.

"Hey yourself." Ron replied.

She moved closer smiling up at him. "You look really tired Ron, are you alright?" She asked concerned and replacing the previous small smile that played around her lips.

"Err… yeah I just didn't get much sleep last night and Darren didn't wake me up so I missed breakfast and was late again," he said stifling a yawn.

"Why don't you just use an alarm clock? Instead of relying on your mentor?" She questioned.

"Well I didn't think I would need one… usually Darren wakes me up at a ungodly hour so that I'm prepared for the day. It's just we kind of had an argument yesterday and I guess he's giving me the silent treatment." Ron explained.

"What did you argue about?" Hermione asked curiously.

He could hardly tell her that she was the very reason for his and Darren's disagreement, so he gave a vague answer and hoped she wouldn't try to pry any further. "Err… just about my strategy for what to do when in the arena," he murmured waving his hand in the air to show that it wasn't a big deal and that she should disregard his problem.

"Well, I think you should listen to the advice Darren gives you since he does have personal experience after all; if my mentor gave me any advice, I would gladly take it," she said frowning.

"Wait… your mentor doesn't help you?" Ron asked completely dismayed.

"Not really… she just ignores me most of the time, doesn't think I stand a chance, so she doesn't bother helping… I'm used to it though… I've done things independently for a while now," she said sadly.

"That's terrible; you should make a complaint and get a new mentor if she's not doing her job."

"I don't want any trouble," she said softly.

"If you hadn't noticed Hermione, we're all in a tournament where you have to fight to the death. So I don't think you could get in anymore trouble if you tried." Ron joked.

She laughed briefly. "I suppose, thanks Ron. Let's have some fun learning about plants then," she said in an excited tone now that both their mentor problems were temporarily forgotten.

Ron didn't understand at how Hermione could think that learning about different plants from an extremely thick crumbling book could ever be classified as fun, but he went along with it regardless. Just being in her presence was enough to turn what Ron would consider normally a mind numbing exercise into a rather interesting one.

They had sat for quite some time reading up about several different species of mushrooms and berries they might come across when in the arena and whether they were harmless or poisonous or if they had healing qualities that could come in useful. They had taken turns reading large paragraphs of the book to each other during this time and whenever it was Hermione's turn to read, Ron would find himself relaxing just listening to her soft, calming voice that was filled with emotion and passion for the book that her small hands clung to like it was a lifeline. However, Ron found himself enjoying his turns at reading even more; Hermione, too, seemed to relax a little when he read to her as she seemed to loosen up a bit as her body was no longer stiff and guarded but instead laid-back and peaceful. He loved the thought that he could make her forget her problems, if just for a few moments. As Ron continued reading, he felt something soft leaning on his shoulder. To Ron's surprise and elation, he had seen that Hermione was leaning her head on his shoulder for comfort.

But it was all too soon before she realised that she was leaning on him and so she promptly retreated to a more acceptable distance, murmuring an unneeded apology.

"Don't apologize… I liked it." Ron said without thinking.

"Really?" Hermione gasped and blushed a dark shade of pink.

"Err, yeah it felt nice." Ron admitted.

"I know," she said quietly as now they were gazing into each other's eyes once more. Ron, being unable to break the connection, saw that her wide chocolate pools were shimmering beautifully in the artificial light pulling him closer to her, until she shook her head a fraction coming out of some sort of daze.

"Test me," she said quickly.

"Do what?" Ron said unable to think of any other meaning of her words other than the fact that he was close to dismantling his barriers and kissing her.

"The plants- test me on them," she stated handing him the old book.

"Oh, right okay." He said now fully understanding her.

Ron showed Hermione a picture of a purple berry and covering up the name and accompanying text beside it asked, "What's this one called?"

"That's the Nightlock Berry," she said confidently.

"Goo-" Ron started to say.

"The Nightlock Berry is extremely poisonous… just one drop of its juices will paralyse and then kill its target in under a minute. The juices stop a person's heart beating and shuts down the other major organs of the body. It cannot be used for any medical purposes and since the poison acts so quickly, there is no medical treatment for accidental consumption." Hermione finished brightly.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! I only wanted the name. But you are correct about everything else…wait a minute this is practically the same definition given in the book! How did you remember it?"

"I just have a good memory," she smiled simply.

"Wow… you're amazing Hermione, you know that right?" Ron said incredulously. But really, amazing did not give Hermione enough justice… she was absolutely perfect in Ron's eyes.

She blushed, "oh shut up Ron I'm not that great," though she looked incredibly pleased by his compliment.

They continued taking turns testing one another on the variety of plant life until the three hour morning session had ended (far too quickly for Ron's liking and apparently for Hermione too) as when the bell rang to signal the start of lunch, Hermione groaned in frustration. "Ohh I was having fun."

Ron smiled at her fondly; surprisingly, he had a good time as well. "So was I." Ron said truthfully. This only caused another staring match to begin as the other was beaming at their opponent. They remained staring at each other until they were rudely interrupted by two shadows looming over them and then a gruff voice spoke.

"Sooo sorry to break whatever this is up, but we wanted to talk to Ron alone." Cormac said rudely while Pansy attempted to block Hermione from the conversation.

"Yeah move it Granger," sneered Pansy and looking at Hermione like she was a piece of dirt on her shoe.

"Oi! Don't talk to her like that," Ron growled while glaring at Pansy and taking to his feet so that he could tower over Pansy.

"Yeah play nice Pansy, Weasley's a little protective of this one." Cormac acknowledged Hermione. "Now, why don't you run along Granger while we have a little chat?"

"Whatever you have to say can be said in front of Hermione." Ron growled again.

Cormac grimaced, obviously deciding whether he should accept Ron's request. Clearly he decided that indeed he would be better off letting this one slide and so started speaking. "Lavender asked you yesterday about the alliance, right?"

"Yeah, what of it." Ron replied.

"You made up your mind yet?" Pansy interrupted.

"He doesn't want to join." Hermione cut in.

"I wasn't asking you _ugly_." Pansy said, stepping closer to Hermione while blowing putrid breath into her face.

"Calm down Pansy… we're not allowed physical contact with the other tributes… _yet,_" spoke Cormac menacingly.

Ron didn't like the way Cormac said 'yet' so harshly, he made a mental note to himself that he would keep a closer eye on Cormac from now on.

"So what do you say Weasley- you in?" Cormac asked.

No of course he wasn't going to join them. He had decided this even before he had reached the capital, but gone now was the idea that he would let them down gently. He was so enraged by their horrible treatment of Hermione that he wanted to make it absolutely clear that he had zero inclination to join what he now considered to be some of the most disgusting people he had ever met in his life. Not caring about his temper, Ron seethed.

"I wouldn't join you even if my life depended on it, which coincidently it does- so piss off!" Ron snapped.

Pansy erupted into almost a deranged laughter at this. "Good- we'll have the pleasure of killing you then- I never really wanted you to accept anyway since it was Lavender's idea in the first place, with her having a thing for gingers."

"Shut up Pansy- let's go, were done here." Cormac instructed.

"That's right call your dog off!" Hermione retorted.

"What did you say?" Pansy spun round spitting at Hermione.

Cormac grabbed Pansy's arm preventing her from reaching Hermione while whispering, "Leave it, they're as good as dead anyway," he then raised his voice directing his words at Ron. "You picked the wrong side Weasel- you'll regret this." All pretence of friendship had flown out of the window; the four teenagers were left glaring at each other as Cormac pulled Pansy down the hallway to the canteen.

"You alright?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Yeah- just a bit shaken- that's all."

"I wish you hadn't stood up for me, you've just made yourself a prime target."

"I can handle it- I'm used to bullies," she admitted.

Ron inwardly groaned. She shouldn't have to put up with bullies, plus he couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt her since she was completely flawless in his eyes.

"Yeah, but these bullies will be trying to kill you." Ron argued.

"That makes little difference since I didn't have much chance of winning this competition anyway, but at least I'll have my pride and morals intact," she said wistfully.

Ron was amazed by the girl in front of him. She was just so perfect and pure. She just didn't realise how incredible she was and nor did she know that he intended to give her every chance of winning.

"Come on then, let's get some food- I'm starving," he said trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione smiled again, "What a surprise."

Without thinking, Ron held out his hand for her; before realising what he was doing, he noticed that amazingly, she took it without hesitation. He smiled to himself as he walked hand in hand with Hermione to the canteen.

Ron and Hermione collected their food and made their way over to the same small table in the corner that they sat at yesterday. Rosie was already seated there, waiting patiently for them to sit down.

"Hiya, how was rope climbing?" Hermione greeted Rose.

"It was awesome, but I'm more interested in whether you guys are engaged yet." Rosie said cheekily.

Ron nearly choked on his bread roll. "Excoose mee?" he coughed as Hermione firmly hit him on the back.

"Well it looked like you two were having lots of fun… that's all." Rosie said.

"We were but I mean… what…why would you think….?"

"Ron she was joking, probably to try and get that sort of reaction out of you." Hermione said calmly although she gave Rosie a significant look as she said this which Rosie tried to reply, "But…" However, she was silenced by another glare from Hermione and so returned to eating her lunch.

Ron looked between the two girls, completely bewildered as they were silently communicating with each other. 'What was going on?' Ron asked himself. Whatever it was, he didn't know if he liked it.

The rest of lunch passed quickly enough and to Ron's dismay Hermione didn't offer any of her food this time.

-OOOO-

The trio entered the training hall once more for the afternoon session to start.

"Right, so what session should we attend now?" Ron asked.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I thought the camouflage station would be fun," said Hermione.

"Yeah I'm up for that!" said Rosie.

"Okay decision made, let's go," supplied Ron.

The afternoon training session was filled with much laughter and hilarity as the camouflage station entailed using paints, berry juice and mud to cover parts of the body so that they would blend into the possible environments that would be in the arena.

Rosie's wild brush strokes and tendency to throw the berries and mud at Ron when she was annoyed at his merciless teasing caused for a very unpredictable session; but by the end of it, all three of them were able to create half decent realistic looking forest and rocky environments on their own skin with the materials provided.

Hours later, an instructor blew a whistle signalling the end of the training session and so the tributes began making their way back to their bedrooms.

After wishing Rosie and Hermione good night, Ron found himself walking down the corridor to his bedroom on a high. Today had truly been awesome. He had a great time with Hermione and Rosie and couldn't wait for training to resume tomorrow for a final time. While he was thinking of these last fun times he would be having, he turned the corner and his eyes fell upon Darren who was yet again leaning on the wall directly outside his bedroom.

Ron sighed, what did he want? Darren had ignored him all day, almost getting him into trouble with the instructors. Although Ron knew it would be childish, he decided he would ignore him back in return. Ron confidently strolled up to his bedroom, not glancing at Darren and opened his door. He was surprised that Darren hadn't said anything yet as he was nearly completely into his bedroom, when he felt a powerful hand wrap around his wrist preventing him from entering fully.

"Fine, you can ignore me for now Ron, but tomorrow morning I'll be back so we can have a little chat." Darren snarled before letting go of Ron's wrist while shutting the door on him.

Ron gulped. He had never seen Darren so angry before. He realized he would scratch his previous thoughts as he was not looking forward to tomorrow anymore. He didn't even dare call room service so he could order dinner, but instead got into bed without even changing.

The look in Darren's eyes had truly shaken him. Ron thought to himself maybe going to sleep would be the best idea as he didn't want to anger Darren further. Yes, sleep was a good idea. If he dreamed of Hermione again like he had done the last previous nights, then his nerves would be probably be calmed down enough for his encounter with Darren tomorrow. If Darren really was going to murder him like the look in his eyes suggested, (even though that was a ridiculous thought) then at least he would have had a nice dream of Hermione that he could think about in his final moments.

As Ron was sleeping, he started to have an unsettling dream. He was dreaming of Hermione; like his previous dreams, it was of her in danger. It felt so real that Ron could have sworn he could hear her screaming down the hall.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hermione was walking to her bedroom after doing some light reading downstairs in the study (tributes were allowed this quiet time). As Hermione was walking to her room, she heard a voice behind her. Turning around, she saw that it was Cormac, Pansy, and Lavender.

"What do you want?" Hermione said nervously. The threatening trio looked at Hermione menacingly and before Hermione realized what was happening, Cormac had grabbed her arms trapping them behind her. Hermione was struggling and let out a scream, but before she was able to scream again, Pansy punched her in the face. Lavender then followed up with a punch in her gut, leaving her winded.

"Just let us take you down quickly Mudblood" Cormac snarled. Hermione, who couldn't catch her breath, just stared at Cormac in horror. "You and Weasley will not stand a chance in there anyway", Cormac smirked at her. Finally, able to catch her breath, Hermione wheezed at him, "Go to hell Cormac". Pansy, not appreciating Hermione's retort, punched her in the face again. Cormac then dropped Hermione to the floor. Hermione was holding her stomach where she was punched as Cormac stooped down low into her ear and whispered, "Do as I say Mudblood…otherwise you will suffer dearly before we kill you." Hermione, being the stubborn Muggleborn witch she was, looked at Cormac with hatred and spat in his face. Cormac wiped the spit from his face and growled at Hermione, "Fine, have it your way. You have made your choice." With that, Cormac kicked Hermione as hard as could in the ribs. Hermione clutched her stomach once more as she cried and writhed in pain. "Come on, let's go before someone sees us…by the way Granger, you tell anyone this, we will see to it that we kill Loverboy Weasley before he even steps foot in the arena." As the three tributes started to walk off, Pansy bent down to Hermione and said "We mean it" and then gave Hermione one last hard kick to stomach before walking off down the hall after her fellow tributes whistling merrily to herself as she went out of sight.

Seeing that they were now gone, Hermione raised her head a bit letting the tears cascade down her face as she tried to get up. Struggling to get up though, she dropped back down to the floor and all went black.

* * *

:) Cliff hanger right

Hope you all enjoyed

I would like to say a big thanks to rhmac12 again for beta-ing for me and to everyone who has left reviews.

I'm guessing Chp7 will be up in a couple of days.


	7. Chapter 7: In Training (part 3)

Chapter 7: In Training part 3

Ron woke up from his horrible nightmare in a cold sweat. He wasn't sure why other than the fact that the dream felt so real, but he just had this nagging feeling that something just wasn't right.

After much deliberation he decided to go and check on Hermione to put his mind at ease. 'What if she thinks I am mental?" Ron thought. 'Well better to be safe than sorry, especially if there is something really wrong'. With that thought in mind, Ron started making his way down to where Hermione's room was located. He would have to be careful as he assumed it was really late at night and he hadn't actually checked his clock before exiting his room since he had been in a mad rush to know whether Hermione was okay.

Ron crept slowly down the dark, empty halls trying not to make too much noise; it would be hard to explain to anyone who found him what he was doing out wandering the halls at this time and he would rather avoid any awkward questions if at all possible.

He was close to Hermione's room now and so he stopped in the middle of the corridor, doubt flooding his mind. 'Am I just being stupid?' he asked himself. 'Well that was more than likely to be the case' Ron thought, but even still he had come this far hadn't he? He could hardly turn back now, plus if it turned out that indeed something had happened to Hermione, he would kill himself if he didn't actually check.

He stood still a couple moments longer bracing himself for what he expected would probably be a very awkward and embarrassing situation. While he had been making his way over to Hermione's room, he had tried to rehearse a sort of speech. Replaying it over and over again in his head (should Hermione ask him what he was doing by her room), he was so close to her bedroom that everything that he had been thinking about had been wiped from his mind. He just couldn't remember a single thing that he planned to say. 'Great… I'm going to sound like a stuttering fool' mused Ron. 'Oh well' he couldn't put if off any longer as he turned the final corner.

He looked to the ceiling silently praying that he wouldn't fuck this up too much. Glancing downwards again, he spotted a mass of bushy brown hair lying face down and motionless a couple of metres down the hall resting near Hermione's door. Ron's breath caught in his throat as he sprinted to the body, instantly recognizing it to be Hermione.

"Oh fuck…Hermione" he choked out desperately hoping that she had just been locked out of her room and that's why she appeared to be sleeping outside it. He reached her, falling to his knees painfully and rolling her body over so she was now on her back. "Hermione wake up" he pleaded shaking her shoulder gently but there was no response.

"Her-mione?" He said now feeling absolutely petrified as he shakily brushed long waves of her beautiful chestnut hair that covered her face and then saw the true reason for her unconscious state. He stared down at her with wide unbelieving eyes; her once unmarred angelic face was now bruised and bloodied. A split lip, bloody nose and a nasty looking black eye now made up her features.

Rage coursed through him like that he never felt before. Roaring in anger he promised that he would kill whoever had hurt her as he was now imagining ripping the faceless person to pieces with his bare hands. They would truly be sorry for ever laying a finger on her. However, rage rapidly turned to pain and tears pricked his eyes as he looked down at her broken form once more, revenge would have to come later, since right now he would have to focus all of his efforts on helping her.

Bending down, he scooped Hermione up in his arms and held her securely. She wasn't exactly heavy, however, he didn't fancy carrying her for long as his arms were shaking so much for fear of dropping her. So he swiftly barged into her bedroom with his shoulder taking the full force of the door and made his way over to her bed.

As he was holding her, he brushed her hair from her face again and gently shook her trying one last final attempt to wake her but with no success. Hermione still wasn't moving at which Ron began to panic as it didn't look like conventional methods were going to work.

Lying Hermione carefully on her bed, Ron now began to check her vital signs. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he felt the glorious steady rhythm of a pulse in her wrist. Her air ways seemed clear and when he pulled back an eyelid her pupils were their normal size and colour. She was definitely alive, but it worried him that she was still unconscious. He didn't know what to do until a crazy idea formed in his head. Never mind the fact it had practically no chance of working, but he was willing to try anything that could make Hermione better.

Since the start of the games, all the tributes' wands had been taken away from them as this had been done for two reasons. Firstly, it was so that they wouldn't be able to escape taking part in the games. Secondly, it was because the Capitals' audiences preferred seeing the contestants kill each other with more conventional weaponry. This would allow for the games to last longer as 'Avada Kadavra' spells would be too fast and almost boring to watch, as they wanted to see blood spill. Due to the morbidity of the audiences' entertainment, only weapons like swords, spears, axes and bows were allowed.

However, he didn't care that he didn't have a wand and he would still try and help Hermione with magic. Ron, holding Hermione in his arms again but now sitting on the large bed, rested his hand on Hermione's cheek, remembering a spell he had learned from his mother a long time ago. Ron whispered shakily, "_Ennervate_". A small tingling sensation shot through his arm to his finger tips and after what felt like forever, Hermione started to stir in his arms. She opened her eyes and managed to whisper, "Ron" before she immediately lost consciousness again. Joy  
flooded through him. Somehow, it had actually worked! Or it was the most incredible coincidence? She had fallen unconscious again a second later but he now had some hope that she would be okay.

He jumped up and fetched a washcloth from the bathroom wiping away the dried blood lovingly from her face and then started to apply Dittany (they all had some in their rooms for cases of injury during training) to the bruises around her cheeks. Immediately, her bruises started to fade, just leaving a bit of black and blue and a swollen lip.

Ron was finishing up with the Dittany when he saw that Hermione was starting to wake up fully and so he began speaking to her softly. "Hermione? It's me-Ron. Can you hear me?" Hermione opened her eyes further and was able to manage a slight nod of her head before wincing in pain. "What else hurts Hermione?" Ron asked. Hermione was struggling to sit up, let out a loud wail and immediately lay back down. Her breathing was heavy and erratic, trying to calm herself. Finally, a few moments later, Hermione was able to gasp out "m-m-my ri-ribs…I-I th-think-they are bro-broken".

Ron looked to Hermione's stomach, unsure what to do. "Hermione, if you think they are broken, I need to look at them…can I raise your sweater up?" Ron asked blushing. Hermione just gave a weak nod and allowed Ron to lift her sweater. What Ron saw made him sick and wanting to kill whoever had touched her. He gulped and bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to supress his rage as his gaze travelled over the sick purple bruises running from her belly button to her breastbone. Gently touching the purple area, Hermione screamed out again. "Hermione, I am so sorry!" Ron said sadly. "I don't know if I can heal these". But Hermione just looked at Ron with those brown pools and begged for him to heal her. "Pl-please Ron. Do something".

Ron knew he was done for, unable to refuse those beautiful eyes as he gazed lovingly at her angelic face. Lifting up his hand he said, "I hope this works." Rubbing his hand tenderly over her stomach, Ron recited the spell "Epipsky". He felt a jet of electricity shoot through him similar to the feeling when he first touched her, flowing around his body and to his fingertips once more that were connected to Hermione's stomach. Hermione started to scream again but this time Ron noticed that her own colour skin was returning as the purple bruises faded fast. Ron looked down at Hermione and saw that she had once again passed out, but now observed that she was breathing evenly unlike the short rapid breaths she was taking earlier.

Not wanting to leave Hermione for fear of the person/people returning to hurt her further, Ron stayed the night, holding Hermione in his arms. It was finally then that he realized he was madly in love with this Muggleborn witch from District 7 and would do everything in his power to protect her. Watching Hermione sleep and ensuring she was definitely asleep, Ron whispered into her ear, "I love you, Hermione" and kissed her briefly on the forehead. With that, he himself fell asleep, holding on tight to Hermione.

-OOOO-

Ron was woken by small warmth stirring next to him; he instinctively nuzzled into the warm bush of hair beside him. A quiet voice whispered, "Ron" as a small hand rubbed his shoulder. He merely hummed contentedly. "Ron!" The voice was more urgent now. Not wanting to ignore the sound further, he opened his eyes.

"What- huh, where am I?" Ron asked confused and dazed by the bright light.

"You're in my bedroom Ron… and wake up… you're squishing me." Hermione groaned.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" He immediately raised himself off her a little.

"It's alright- I suppose I can forgive you," she smiled. "Thank you for finding me Ron… and taking care of me."

"You're feeling better then?" Ron asked hopefully, beaming down at her.

"Much, thank you," she smiled sweetly up at him. Their eyes connected again like they had done so many times in recent days. Ron could have sworn that her head was moving closer to his own when…

They both jumped backwards as a loud banging on the door and a furious voice started shouting, "Open up now! I know you're in there!"

Hermione pulled Ron back down onto her again, "What's happening?"

"I don't know- stay behind me." Ron said, positioning himself closest to the door but remaining on the bed.

"I'll smash this door down if you don't open up now!" The enraged voice shouted again. "You have three seconds!"

Ron knew he couldn't reach the door in three seconds nor could he shout a reply to the voice he now recognized to be Darren's as he was already counting down.

"3-2-1!"

Darren burst through the door, his narrowed eyes scanning the room and falling upon Ron in the bed. "I knew it!" He bellowed. "As soon as I saw your bed was empty, I just **_knew_** I would find you here. Get up now!" He shouted furiously, bulging, purple veins visible on his forehead and almost looking like they would burst.

"No!" shouted Ron clinging to Hermione who was shaking with fear as she hadn't yet met Darren, so for all she knew this enraged man could be just about anyone.

"Don't make me drag you out of here!" Darren threatened stepping closer to the bed.

"I'm not leaving her." Ron seethed for he wouldn't risk leaving Hermione when she was still healing and in danger of another attack.

"Fine! We'll do this the hard way!" Darren marched over to the bed; his muscular arms grabbed Ron roughly, trying to pull him up away from Hermione.

Ron drew back his fist prepared to hit Darren in order to stop himself from being parted from her.

"No!" Hermione shrieked, wrapping her arms around Ron's waist thus preventing Darren from lifting him.

A look of surprise rather than anger crossed Darren's face and unexpectedly Darren released Ron almost instantly. He just stopped and stared at the two teenagers wrapped up on the bed. He seemed to be analysing them both, just watching curiously at how Hermione's arms gripped Ron's waist tightly.

All of Darren's anger seemed to vanish as fast as it had come. He looked around the room, his eyes falling on a chair; he stumbled over to it and pretty much collapsed onto it putting his head in his hands in despair.

"Why are you here Ron-why do you insist on throwing your life away?" Darren asked miserably from the padded armchair.

"I'm not." Ron growled.

"So you're doing this for a good cause, are you?" Darren asked again in the same defeated tone.

"Yes… the very best."

"And there's no way you're going to change your mind?"

"No, I've made my choice." said Ron firmly.

"Okay… I won't try and stop you anymore."

Ron couldn't believe his ears as he slowly removed himself from Hermione's grip and stood up and cautiously walked over to Darren before embracing him in a brotherly hug.

Darren took another glance at Hermione over Ron's shoulders who was still sitting on the bed, looking completely baffled by this strange turn of events before he whispered in Ron's ear, "Us… to-gether… we-re going to make sure she wins… ok-ay?"

Ron could have almost burst into tears at Darren's words as he finally understood how much Hermione meant to him and that there was no way in hell that he would change his mind about saving her. "I just hope she's worth it," said Darren.

"She's worth everything to me." Ron murmured.

After a couple more seconds, Darren pulled away, clapping Ron on the back before turning to Hermione.

"I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Darren, Ron's mentor." said Darren brightly stepping towards the bed and holding out his hand to Hermione for her to shake it. All traces of watery eyes and anger were now gone from his face.

"Umm… I'm Hermione," she said warily.

"I know… Ron talks about you all the time." Darren grinned.

Ron turned an impressive shade of red at Darren's comment. "I do not," he denied.

Darren smiled mischievously at Ron. "Course you don't," before turning back around silently mouthing to Hermione, '_All the time.'_

Hermione smiled, turning a light shade of pink before composing herself and asking, "Err… I don't mean to be rude… but why are you in my bedroom?"

"That's exactly the same question I was going to ask Ron." Darren said looking at Ron expectantly, eye brows raised.

"Hermione was attacked last night and I was taking care of her." Ron explained.

"What... you were attacked, do you know who is responsible?" asked Darren in a worried tone.

"Whoever it was- I'm going to rip their throat out." Ron growled.

"I can't tell you…they said that they would…" she mumbled something inaudibly "…if I told anyone…"

"Please tell us Hermione." Ron pleaded gazing directly into her eyes.

She blinked turning away, "Okay! It was Cormac, Lavender and Pansy – alright?"

"Right, where are they?" Ron spat making a movement to the door; he was going to pummel all of them and damn the consequences.

"Stop… calm down Ron- that won't solve anything… it's not like you can prove it was them. As a matter of fact, it would just probably put yourself and Hermione in more danger and you wouldn't want that would you?" Darren said giving Ron a significant look.

"Fine! But at least tell the officials. I mean, tributes aren't allowed to fight before the games begin… they have to be punished." Ron growled again.

"Although it's against the rules, it's not like anyone will do much if tributes fight each other. The game makers will still put everyone in the arena regardless. To be honest, I expect that the game makers secretly want there to be some conflict between tributes before the games have begun, so that the televised competition is more entertaining as a result of increased tension."

"What should we do then?" Ron said grumpily.

"Well, Hermione's fully healed, is she?" asked Darren.

"Yes I'm fine, thanks to Ron." Hermione gushed beaming at Ron, who returned her smile.

Darren made a small gagging noise in the back of his throat so that they would redirect their gaze to focus on him once more. "Okay here's what you do, go to training as normal. Stay close together and show that you are both stronger as a unit. Practice with the weaponry and get used to handling it. Ron, you can pretend the training dummies are the Careers, but by no means are you going to start on them. Act as though nothing has happened… ignore everyone but each other and put all of your efforts into weapons and hand to hand combat techniques. Prove that you are not intimidated by anyone and that you're both prepared for a fight- alright?"

"Sounds like a plan," chirped Hermione.

"Good, now you've got 40 minutes until training starts so have a wash, get a bite to eat, and kick some arse today… okay!"

"I'll see you guys later. I've got to confer with the District 7 mentors and see if I can negotiate an official alliance between our two districts."

Darren hurriedly left the room leaving Ron and Hermione alone.

Not liking the idea, but knowing he would have to leave temporally so he could change out of last night's clothes and have a shower, Ron faced Hermione.

"I'll meet you back here soon so we can go to the training hall together. Lock your door while I'm gone, won't you?" Ron said.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." Hermione said in a small voice.

It took just over half an hour for the two of them to get ready and so they were both currently walking together towards the Training Hall. Ron stopped just outside, "You ready?"

"Yeah," she said but Ron noticed her voice wavered and so he stuck out his hand. "Here." She smiled taking his hand gratefully and intertwining her fingers with his fingers. Ron's stomach did a somersault as he just couldn't get over the fact of how her small hands were so soft, fitted perfectly in his own, and that she actually accepted his offer.

Brimming with a new found confidence, they both entered the hall hand in hand. As usual, everyone in the hall turned around to see the newcomers. Ron couldn't help noticing the shocked expressions on Pansy's and Lavender's faces, along with the grimaces directed at them by Cormac and Draco when they saw Hermione entering the hall, not only perfectly healed and healthy but holding Ron's hand with a determined expression across her face.

For the first time, Ron was early to a training session. However, he didn't have to wait long until everyone else arrived and the morning session began.

"Let's go," he said rushing to the weapons and picking up a set of throwing axes and bagging a practice dummy to aim their shots. "Right, here you go." He handed Hermione a tomahawk. "Stand steady and aim for its head." Ron instructed her.

"I'll try," she said nervously.

Hermione threw her axe clumsily, missing the dummy by over a metre so that it bounced harmlessly on the stone flooring of the hall.

A loud snort came from behind them. Ron turned around to see Pansy making no effort to conceal her laughter at Hermione

Ron watched as Pansy picked up her own throwing knife and throwing it perfectly, hitting the dummy between the eyes.

Hermione shivered next to him so he put an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Next time Granger, it will be your muddy pools that my knife sticks between," Pansy sneered while directing her words at Hermione.

Ron nearly lost control half way to lunging at Pansy who backed away a little looking slightly caught off guard at Ron's frantic grab at her when he felt a delicate but firm hand wrap around his wrist. His rage instantly faded. How had one touch have such a calming effect on him, he did not know.

"Ignore her." Hermione whispered gritting her teeth together.

"Easier said than done." Ron replied. "I swear if she threatens you again… I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Take your anger out on the dummies, remember?" she reminded him gently.

"Yeah." He grasped his tomahawk probably a bit harder than he would have normally and threw it viciously, aiming for the head of the dummy like Pansy had done. He watched as the tomahawk sunk into where the dummies' eye socket would have been on a normal human.

He couldn't believe it! His first attempt and it was not only on target, but would have been a fatal shot.

He turned around glancing at Pansy; her smug expression had wavered and was now replaced by something like contempt or possibly fears.

He took in more of his surroundings, noticing that all 6 Careers had indeed seen his throw and if looks could kill-he surely would be dead, but Ron grinned. Looks couldn't kill, but the throw he had just made would definitely kill.

Picking up three more tomahawks, he threw them in rapid succession aiming for the head, chest and shoulder as all his shots hit their mark. 'Wow,' he realised he must have a natural talent at throwing and aiming as he hadn't thought he was especially talented at anything apart from the fact that he was a master at chess. Chess couldn't come in handy in the arena, but this talent definitely would.

"Wow, Ron you're really good!" Hermione acknowledged. "Can you help me please?"

"Of, course." Ron said handing her another axe.

"Okay, hold it like this… only grip the bottom half of the handle." Ron said. "It allows for a quicker release and a straighter flight."

"Good, now hold your arm at a ninety degree angle." Ron moved Hermione's arm supporting her elbow as he just couldn't help touching her. "Pull back and release!" Her shot was better this time as it actually made contact with the dummy, embedding in its thigh.

"Not bad, with some more practice and you'll be a pro." Ron said encouragingly.

"Thanks, but I somehow doubt it." Hermione said sadly.

Nevertheless, the pair continued to work hard over the next three hours and not even Hermione could say that she hadn't improved. The two of them had now tried out knife and axe throwing, sword fighting, and hand to hand combat by wrestling with an instructor.

The now familiar lunch bell rung, so Ron and Hermione made their way to the canteen. As Hermione collected her food, Ron found that he was subconsciously positioning himself so that when walking past the Career table, Hermione would be on his right hand side-far away as possible from the 'psychos' as he had so adeptly named them.

Hermione was walking so close to him that he actually felt her shiver when they walked past the Careers and taking their seats at their normal table.

Rosie had yet again beaten them to their usual table and looked up from her plate to watch them sit down.

"So… you two okay? It looked like you were working really hard today."

"Yes… we're fine… thanks, Rosie…just a little tired." Hermione said rubbing her forehead with one hand in small circular motions.

"Ron, you okay?" asked Rosie concerned.

"What? Oh… yeah, fine." He mumbled. "Hey Rosie, swap seats with me," he said out of the blue.

"Err, why?" replied both girls as Rosie was seemingly confused and Hermione's voice was betraying a little bit of hurt like she was thinking why would Ron want to move away from sitting next to me?

Ron had been looking over his shoulder at the Career table. He had wanted to keep an eye on them and so he required Rosie's chair which lent against the back wall so he could have an uninterrupted view of them and the room at large.

Ron and Rosie swapped seats so Ron could keep his gaze on the Career table, and especially Pansy, as he ate his lunch not even caring what he was putting in his mouth. He glared at the dirty blonde haired girl that he so despised; he watched her left hand as it seemed to flinch at her hip like she was fingering the handle of a knife in an invisible belt. 'God this one really was crazy wasn't she?' His first impression that she was indeed mentally unhinged now seemed to be more than likely true.

Ron gasped in surprise as Pansy suddenly looked up from her plate and directly at him. She smiled evilly at him before glancing at the back of Hermione's head and drawing a finger across her own neck. Ron clenched his fists tightly; he really fucking hated this girl, that he actually couldn't wait for the chance to end her sick and twisted life. Not being able to stand the sight of her any longer, he looked down at the table cloth imagining a variety of ways at how he would kill her.

Unlike the two previous days when the canteen had been filled by the loud chattering and harsh laughs from the Career table, today the hall was filled with silence. It was a deadly silent tension that was building; time until the games began was limited as the minutes were ticking away and everybody knew it, therefore there was no time for chat.

Ron was now in his own room. The afternoon session had passed quickly, but he and Hermione had still managed to try out some archery and spear throwing. The final day of training had been extremely important as he had bettered his aim and handling of pretty much all the weapons, but now training was over which meant that in less than 48 hours he would be fighting for his and Hermione's lives in the arena.

He would have one more day of peace with the interviews and then it would begin. But he was so fuelled by anger and love, that he was determined that the games would go his way. His plan just had to work- he couldn't bear it if it didn't.

In some sick way, he couldn't wait for it to begin so he could personally kill every one of the Careers who had hurt Hermione.

He was finding it hard to get to sleep, it had been so easy the previous night when he had been holding Hermione close in his arms. He now realised how much he missed her presence. She was so perfect, in almost every way; her scent and the way her small body fitted perfectly with his own- he only wished he had more time with her.

* * *

Hope you liked it and thanks to everyone who has taken thier time to review.


	8. Chapter 8: The Interviews

Hey everyone, here is chapter 8 its the last one before the arena action starts so hope y'all enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 8: The interviews

An unfamiliar high pitched bleeping noise awoke Ron from his slumber. He fumbled blindly, knocking over a box of tissues resting on his bedside table onto the carpet in an attempt to shut his alarm clock up. He couldn't believe he had actually remembered to set it last night as he was feeling distracted. He rolled over, rubbing sleep from his eyes and finally succeeded in his efforts to turn off the alarm as he saw the digital clock flash 8:00am back at him in blue luminescent numbering. He had purposely given himself a small lie in since he would need to be rested well. The truth had finally hit him now- there was only one day until the games began.

He sighed miserably, noticing the heat provided by the blankets didn't match up to the comforting, warming sensation Hermione's body had administered while lying next to him last morning.

Now that Darren was helping him, Ron to his great disappointment, hadn't needed to stay the night with Hermione again; and so unfortunately, this was the reason he was waking up alone in his own room. Darren had promised Ron that although he doubted the Careers would be foolish enough to try another attempt to immobilize Hermione, he would nevertheless still patrol her corridor all the same to ease Ron's nerves.

Last night, just before Ron turned in, he had arranged with Darren that they would meet in his bedroom at 8:30 to go over the schedule for the next day. So he reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and hurried to get ready on time.

As Ron washed and got dressed, his mind pondered over yesterday's events. He had been so preoccupied with healing Hermione, that he hadn't realised the true extent of the fact that he had successfully performed wand less magic, not just once but twice! He wouldn't have believed it; he had felt so powerful during those moments and surely the fact that he had produced wand less magic could mean that he had a massive advantage when in the arena. He made a mental note to find some time during the day when he could attempt to perform some magic once more to make sure it wasn't an isolated incident.

Now fully washed and dressed, Ron sat on the edge of his bed eagerly awaiting Darren's arrival. A knock on the door a few minutes later sent Ron scarpering for the handle, pulling it open to reveal an extremely tired looking Darren. "Morning," Darren greeted him, as he made his way over to a plump sofa in Ron's room. Just before collapsing onto the cushions, he rubbed his temples with the pads of his thumbs and continued,

"Had a good night's sleep?" asked Darren yawning.

"Not bad, but you look terrible." Ron said bluntly noticing the bags underneath Darren's bloodshot eyes.

"Well, I look like this because I've been guarding the love of your life's bedroom the whole night." Darren grumbled.

"You didn't have to; I would have happily stayed with Hermione."

"I know you would have _loved_ to stay with her, but that's the problem, Ron- I just couldn't allow it. I wouldn't want any more unwanted attention brought on the two of you. Anyway, we're in this together now so I'm happy to help you." He paused for breath. "Oh and plus you'll need all your energy for today and I doubt you would have got much sleep if you stayed with Hermione." Darren teased.

Ron's face heated up as he shrugged. "It's not like we did or would do anything."

"Hmm… you looked pretty close to me- something easily could have happened." Darren said doubtfully.

Ron looked down gloomily. "She doesn't like me in that way."

Darren raised his eye brows in a sceptical manner. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Ron peered into Darren's eyes trying to spot sincerity and to his surprise, found it. 'Could she really like me in the same way too?' He thought to himself. No, he couldn't let himself think about it, so he quickly tried to change the subject in order to not get his hopes too high. "It doesn't make a difference anyway. Now, what's the schedule for today?"

Ron thought Darren looked a little startled by his abrupt change of subject; however, thankfully, he didn't press the matter and began to explain the workings of the day. "Okay… so today's schedule is pretty simple, really. It will start off with your morning private training session with the game makers where you are awarded your training score. Then, you have a little bit of free time to prepare or relax followed by the live interviews in the evening".

Ron nodded. "What do we have to do in these private training sessions?"

"Well, they only last 10 minutes. But within that timeframe you have to impress the game makers who are observing you by performing with some of the weapons or any of the activities you have learnt in the last few days. The game makers will then give you a training score between 1 and 12 based on your performance which represents their opinions of your chances of winning. So you want a good score to excite possible sponsors into supporting you."

"What sort of score do you think I should be aiming for?" Ron asked nervously.

"Well, obviously a 12 would be brilliant but an 8 or anything higher is a pretty solid score that I can probably work with; however, personally, I think you could probably get a 9 or 10."

Ron cringed as he had never really had much self-esteem. He had so many brothers that he thought were better than himself and so he was pleased but also doubtful about Darren's comment, as he wasn't used to people believing in him. "I think you overestimate my abilities a little bit."

Darren scoffed. "Rubbish, you're one of the most promising contestants here. You just need some more faith in your own talents."

"Thanks mate, but I don't have anything planned to impress them." Ron admitted.

"Never mind that- just play it safe. Throw some spears or something. But whatever you do, don't do anything stupid that could turn the game makers against you." Darren instructed.

"Okay Darren I'm not an idiot-I'll throw some spears then, alright?"

"Good… now are you ready for the interviews?" Darren questioned.

"I guess so; it won't be too hard, will it?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"Nah, Ludo Bagman is a great host. He always creates a good atmosphere for the tributes to thrive off, so don't be nervous. If you can keep your head and stay honest, you'll be just fine."

"Will do-"however Ron was cut off by a loud rumble emitted by his own stomach as Darren looked at Ron with amusement. "Well, I think that's our cue to end this conversation and get you some breakfast," he cheeked.

Ron's eyes lit up at the prospect of food as his stomach gave another impatient grumble. "Hell yeah, I'm starving." He said earnestly.

-OOOO-

'Pffft' He let out a ragged breath and ran a sweaty hand through his auburn hair as he had just come out of the private training session with the game makers. He hadn't had anything planned so he quickly decided on the spot to show off a mix of everything, hoping that he would do reasonably well in at the least one aspect of his showcase.

He was feeling quietly confident and so he rubbed his hands together in excitement at his performance. When he had first entered the hall, he had been slightly worried and extremely annoyed as the game makers seemed to be more interested in the large buffet laid out for them than actually judging him. However, after he had lined up three practice dummies, he had thrown a spear with such a force that it had pierced through all of their heads in a row. The game makers then seemed to pay him much more attention. They were then able to witness him snipe another dummy at a range of 30 metres with a tomahawk. They also watched him throw a 20kg bag of flour halfway across the hall. As his final demonstration, he showed off a quick display of his knot tying ability by creating a perfect snare.

Yes, he had never been as proud of himself as he had been at that exact moment when he had heard the collective gasp of the game makers as they saw him brutally murder three training dummies with one spear. Well..., maybe except for the time when he had first beaten his father at chess; that had been an awesome feeling since he had actually found something he was naturally talented at, which set him apart from his brothers. At the thought of his father and his brothers however, he choked. It still hurt to think about his family and the fact that he had decided he would definitely not be returning to them if he was going to keep his promise of saving Hermione.

He tried to think of something else as he continued to stroll absentmindedly down the corridor so that he would forget his family just for a little longer. As he was walking, he grinned stupidly as he imagined Hermione's beautiful face pop into his head. It really was ridiculous at how often his mind was on her. He was replaying his most recent dream of her where she had been feeding him chocolate covered strawberries when he bumped into something small and squishy.

"Wo-ah! Ron watch where you're going!" Rosie reprimanded him in a slightly mischievous voice.

"Oh, sorry Rosie… didn't see you there… guess I was day dreaming." Ron apologized dreamily.

"Hmm… what was Hermione doing to you this time?" Rosie asked smirking at how Ron's face turned from blissful to horrified in an instant.

"Wh-at I…do-n't… hav-en't… preposterous…" Ron sputtered. How had she known that he had just been indulging himself in a half-naked dream about Hermione who had an infinite supply of chocolate covered fruits at her disposal?

Rosie merely raised her eyebrows at his lack of ability at speech. "Right… it's just you had this disgustingly happy expression on your face, so I guessed you would be thinking about her."

Ron frowned, composing himself slightly mostly over the initial shock of being caught in the act of having an erotic dream. For a twelve year old, she really was far too clever for her own good he thought, or maybe it was the fact that he was so transparent. "Am I really that obvious?" He asked fearing her reply.

She nodded, uttering a simple exaggerated, "Yessssss!"

'Bloody hell' if Darren and Rosie could both see his feelings, how could Hermione (being the smartest person he knew) not notice.

He braced himself taking a deep breath. "Does she know that I…" He stuttered to a halt.

Rosie contemplated her response. "I don't think so- for some reason I think she's oblivious to your drooling. Or… it might be due to the fact that she fancies you like crazy as well." She finished whilst smiling cheekily up at his pale face.

His jaw fell open he as he was completely speechless. This was twice now in the same day that different people said that Hermione liked him too. Just maybe- could they be right?

"Well I'll just let you think that over, shall I?" Rosie said smiling brightly up at him.

"I…yeah give me a sec."

"Okayyyy…times up! Come on let's go- Darren asked me to look for you. He said they'll be announcing the training scores soon."

Ron allowed Rosie to take him by the arm and lead him down the hall to a set of stairs until they were in the private living room where the District 11 tributes and mentors could hang out.

Ron saw Darren sitting on the padded leather sofa, his feet propped up by the glass coffee table and his eyes glued to the Flat screen TV.

Rosie coughed to get his attention. "Found him," she said.

Darren looked up. "Where was he?" He asked.

"He was walking down a random corridor staring into space with this gormless look on his face, nearly knocking me over in the process." Rosie said.

"Hey! , I didn't look gormless." Ron protested, glaring at her.

"Well, that sounds about right to me," mocked Darren.

"Oi!, Stop ganging up on me!" Ron shouted.

"Okay enough- just get over here. They're announcing the scores soon." Darren said as he shook his head in amusement.

Ron made his way over to the sofa and attempted to sit down next to Darren, when he was violently pushed out of the way. He toppled to the left and landed on the arm of the sofa. Rosie lightly settled herself in the middle of the sofa poking her tongue out at Ron and smiling sweetly at him. "Ladies first Ron- I mean, where are your manners?"

He glared at her childish behaviour but his face softened when he reminded himself that she indeed was still a child at twelve years of age. However, he thought that wouldn't stop him from protecting his own back. He righted himself on the sofa and extended his hand to congratulate her on winning the middle cushion. She smiled, taking his hand while wearing a victorious expression on her face; it reminded him so much of Ginny that he decided to use a tactic that always worked on her when she stepped out of line. He suddenly pulled Rosie towards him, catching her off guard and started to mercilessly tickle her.

She squealed in delight. "Ahh… Ron- no… stop it," she panted as she writhed around the sofa trying to get away from him. But he wouldn't let her escape as he pinned her down never ceasing in his attack. "Not until you give me back what's mine and admit defeat," he said laughing at her antics.

"Never!" She wheezed out now trying to kick him off her, but he grabbed her feet and started to tickle the base of them. "Noooo, please stop… I give – in," she gasped out.

"Shush, calm down you two- it's starting," Darren chuckled.

Ron let Rosie go, smirking at her and sticking out his tongue like she did at him earlier. She merely glared at him. "I'll get you back," she threatened trying to display her most menacing face which only made Ron laugh.

"Seriously guys, shut up and watch." Darren commanded exasperated.

"Sorry" They both said simultaneously, turning their attention to the screen and concentrating hard.

A headshot picture of Lavender flashed onto the screen along with her district number one and her training score- a high 9.

Draco's picture followed, he had also received a 9.

Pansy was next up- a large number 11 hung under her picture. Darren sucked in a deep breath "Oooh that's impressive," he whispered. Ron scowled. He'd always had a feeling that Pansy was going to be one of his hardest opponents and in this instance; he didn't like being proved correct.

The program continued and to Ron's surprise, Cormac only received a 10. Then he saw that the two tributes from District three received a 4 and a 6, respectively.

Theodore and Millicent from District four followed both received healthy 8's.

The tributes from 5 and 6 were not as fortunate since none of them scraped higher than a 6; one of them even got a 2.

Ron was holding his breath as he knew who was next and he desperately hoped she had done well. Hermione's beautiful face popped onto the screen with a solid 8 accompanying it. "Yes!" He shouted looking over at Darren, who went to high five him. "That's a good score- I can work with that," Darren said confidently rubbing his hands together in excitement.

"What do you mean you can work with that? Hermione's not your tribute to mentor," Rosie said with narrowed eyes suspiciously looking between Ron and Darren.

"I… well - he means…" Ron faltered not knowing how to explain.

"I mean that you three are a team right? So it would be best if I am trying to get sponsors for all three of you. You'll all be together, so you will all benefit if you share the gifts." Darren suggested.

"I guess." Rosie said apparently satisfied by Darren's explanation and returning her attention back to the screen.

The next few tributes' scores never went higher than 6, with the exception of Lee Jordan from District nine who had managed an 8.

It was now Rosie's turn and she gripped Ron's arm nervously in anticipation. She was sitting stiffly, the muscles in her arms and legs tensed. A large number 7 appeared on the screen under her photo and she squealed, relaxing considerably. "Wow, Rosie a 7! That's really good- most people haven't got over a 6." Ron congratulated her.

"I know. Sponsors might give me a chance now, even though I'm small," she said unable to contain her elation.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as his own face appeared on the screen supplemented by a large shimmering number 11 to go with it.

He heard three gasps simultaneously; one of them he realised was his own. He had thought he had done well, but to get an 11- that was just mental.

"Bloody hell- they must have made a mistake," he said disbelievingly.

"Nope- definitely an 11 mate! Well done- you're going to be pulling in the sponsors like mad," announced Darren who actually punched the air in celebration.

"I got an 11!" He had to say it again, just to make sure.

"Yeah, you did the same as Pansy- she is going to be so pissed," giggled Rosie happily bouncing up and down on the sofa.

He grinned, 'yes she was' he could imagine her face right now- her smug expression replaced by one of rage. 'She can suck on that! The sour faced bitch', he thought to himself wickedly.

-OOOO-

It had been a couple of hours since the training scores had been broadcasted and now Ron found himself positioned in the stands surrounding a vast stadium where the interviews were being held. All the tributes were sitting in a line in order of district, so therefore he sat in-between Rosie and the girl from 12, waiting for his turn at being interviewed.

He was wearing his suit and tie that had been picked out for him days ago and was currently watching the District 7 boy who he now knew to be called Harry, talking and being questioned by Ludo Bagman, the famous presenter of the Hunger Games.

As Ron listened to his fellow tributes' interviews, he couldn't help thinking that Darren was right. Ludo was extremely good at his job, no matter who was sitting opposite him; he always made an interview as exciting and as memorable as possible, even with the shyer individuals. Ron decided that he liked Bagman as he seemed to actually care about the tributes in some small way. He joked and praised the tributes, trying to make them feel comfortable to aid a better performance from them.

However he hadn't been paying much attention to the other tributes' interviews. The first one was with Draco, who had been so incredibility arrogant and obnoxious that Ron had refused to listen to the rest, especially since those Careers talked utter 'shit' in his opinion. However, now he was concentrating, for it was finally Hermione's turn. Ron watched avidly as she delicately stood up in her midnight blue strapless dress and made her way to the hot seat. When he had first laid eyes on her, he had nearly swallowed his own tongue and suffocated himself. He couldn't breathe for at least a whole minute at how incredibly gorgeous she looked. The dress was close fitting and showed off her curves and exposed her neck of milky skin that left Ron's fingers itching in his pockets. He stared shamelessly at her as she carefully made her way onto the stage earning a hard elbow in the ribs from Rosie. "Ow, what was that for?" He muttered.

"You were dribbling," she whispered taunting him.

Ron chose to ignore her and instead focused back at the stage as Bagman stood up, greeting Hermione by kissing her hand and making Ron grit his teeth. Okay, he changed his mind now- he didn't like Bagman, after all.

"Here we have District 7's Hermione Granger- how are you Hermione? Bagman asked cheerfully, completely unaware that he was currently being subjected to a murderous glare from Ron.

"I'm fine, thanks." Hermione responded in an almost unrecognizable voice that didn't sound as natural Ron thought.

"And what do you think of the Capital? Bagman pressed.

"It's very impressive. The architecture is absolutely beautiful and the people all seem really friendly," she beamed brightly. Although Ron had only known her for under a week, he could tell that her smile was fake and forced. He smiled to himself, as he had received many real laughs from Hermione that he could tell the difference easily enough. It was clear to Ron that Hermione was trying to appease the Capital's audience by flattering their city and population; there was no way she would think that the people egging on children to kill each other were in anyway friendly.

He thought to himself that she, in his opinion, was doing a very good job. The live audience seemed to love her, but then again everything she did in his eyes was perfect so he wasn't the best person to judge.

"Congratulations! 8 is a very good training score," Bagman praised.

"Thank you. I would like to think that it may tempt a couple of sponsors into giving me a chance," she said hopefully.

Ludo leaned forward resting his chin on his fist. "I'm sure it will- now Hermione what do you rate your chances of winning?"

"As good as anybody else I suppose," she said shyly.

"That's a good attitude to take- not counting yourself out."

"So what would you do if you win?"

"Oh, I don't know," she hesitated. "Well…I've always had a fascination with books and I love reading and writing so I was thinking of becoming an author," she finished lamely.

Bagman ignored her previous comment by changing the subject. "Do you by any chance have a special guy waiting for you back in District 7?"

Ron's heart stopped. 'Oh crap how stupid was I to not consider that she might have a boyfriend back home,' he thought. He sighed dejectedly. Oh well, it didn't change his plan even if she did have a boyfriend, but he crossed his fingers all the same hoping her response was what he wanted to hear.

"Err… no, I've never had a boyfriend."

His heart restarted beating at twice its normal pace.

"Ahh shame… well, if you win, all the boys back home will be clambering over themselves to be with you." Ludo said winking at Hermione.

"I suppose," she said slowly but she didn't exactly look very excited by this prospect and Ron couldn't help smiling at this.

A buzzard sounded indicating the end of Hermione's interview time.

"Oh dear time is up- one last thing before you go though, Miss Granger. I'm sure the audience would love for you to give us a twirl in that magnificent dress of yours." Ludo exclaimed, backed up by the mass of agreements from the live audience.

Hermione smiled and Ron noticed that it was her first genuine one of the night as she spun on her heel once, twice, and finally a third time before coming to a halt silencing the crowd and the voice in Ron's head in amazement.

'Blimey she really was beautiful', he thought as she gracefully made her way off the stage and back to her seat.

"A big round of applause, please- for Miss Granger- Districts 7's tribute!" Ludo called out to the crowd as she took her seat.

The interviews passed quickly and in no time at all Rosie had finished her own interview, extremely strong for a twelve year old girl. She was exceptionally confident and funny as it was clear the audience loved her. Although Ron was pleased she had done well, she would be a tough act to follow.

"Finally, now a round of applause for Ron Weasley- District eleven's tribute!" Ludo called out.

Ron walked on stage, taking a seat opposite Bagman. "Hello Ron, how are you doing?"

"I'm feeling good," he said simply.

"What's your favourite thing about the capital?" Ludo asked.

He thought about what Darren had told him-just be honest. "Well, the food is delicious- especially the chocolate cake." Ron said not daring to glance over to where the other tributes were sitting. Bagman guffawed loudly at this and the audience joined in, however, Ron knew they didn't know the true meaning of his words.

"Yes, I know all too well how good the food is here." Bagman said patting his stomach heartily.

The audience laughed again and Ron couldn't help joining in for it seemed Bagman really was a funny guy.

"So- an eleven eh? Joint best score- how are you feeling about your chances?" pressed Bagman.

"Well, an 11 is really unexpected but I'm confident that I'm a strong contender worthy of being sponsored." Ron said almost cringing at the shameless plug he used.

"Don't you worry about sponsors, son. I expect that 11 will guarantee you a lot." Bagman said, patting Ron on the shoulder.

"So do you want to win?"

Ron hesitated. No, he didn't but he could hardly say that as he planned to lose for Hermione when Ginny was probably watching. "Of course I would love to see my family again as a champion, especially my sister who I miss the most of all."

"Tell us a little about your sister."

"Well, her name is Ginny. She is a year younger than me and she can be a right nightmare most of the time, but then she can be so sweet and caring and funny- always playing pranks on her older brothers. I love her so much. She means the world to me and I made a promise to her that I would try and win for her," he finished.

A small tear formed at the corner of Bagman's eye and he made an exaggerated motion of brushing it away.

"Well, I predict it's more than likely you'll be able to see your sister again." Bagman encouraged as the sound of the buzzer rang out, calling an end to his time on stage.

-OOOO-

The live interviews had just finished and the tributes were being escorted back to the training centre. Darren found Ron within the crowd clapping him on the back. "Well done-you didn't fuck up; made my job a lot easier."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ron said sarcastically. "Hey Rosie and Hermione did as well- didn't they?"

"Yeah, the audience loves all three of you-now you must get to bed. Get an earlier night's sleep tonight. You're going to need all the energy you can get for tomorrow," Darren commanded him to his bedroom.

Ron was now in his bedroom. Although he promised Darren that he would get an early night, he really wanted to see whether he could reproduce any wand less magic; however, he would need a place completely out of the way where no one had a chance of overhearing him. His bedroom just would not do so he thought long and hard as he remembered the rooftop. "That's the perfect place', he thought.

Ron grabbed a jumper and then leaving his room, made his way carefully down the halls where he knew the roof access was located. Reaching the ladder to the roof, Ron started to climb and opened the trap door as a blast of crisp air hit his face.

He was glad now that he had the foresight to bring a jumper with him, it was positivity freezing up here.

He noticed that there were no clouds in the sky and he could clearly see a crescent moon in the night's sky as leaves swirled around his head carried by the wind.

Settling himself on the cool wooden planked floor he attempted _'Accio leaves'_ but nothing happened as the leaves continued to swirl around making no motion of being summoned.

He grabbed one from the air manually and whispered, _'Engorgio._' The leaf stayed the same size. He frowned as his wand less magic didn't seem to be working.

He was getting extremely frustrated now. He must have been sitting in the same spot for over an hour and still had not managed to alter the leaf in any way nor had he felt the electrical tingling sensation that always was present when he performed magic. He was about to give up and head back to bed when he heard the trap door open behind him and he froze.

"Ron?"

He wiped his head around seeing a mane of silky brown hair. "Hermione, is that you?" he said squinting in order to see her face properly.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What are you doing here?" He asked nervously.

"I couldn't sleep, so I just thought that I could use some fresh air," she explained.

"But I- how did you know this place existed?" Ron asked.

"I went exploring one day and found it-how did you know about the roof top?"

"Darren showed me and Rosie when we first arrived here."

"Oh, well I hope you don't mind me staying," she asked chewing her lip and wrapping her arms around her chest hugging herself.

"Not at all- sit." Ron said enthusiastically patting the floor next to him.

"Thanks," she smiled shyly at him settling herself and crossing her legs next to him.

As she sat down next to him he observed that she was only wearing a yellow V-neck t-shirt and a knee-length skirt. 'that's strange' he thought that wasn't normal bed clothes, he would of expected her to be wearing pjamas of some kind. She wasn't even wearing shoes or socks so he could see her adorable little toes finished with a light pink nail varnish. "Hey-aren't you cold?" He asked.

"No… I'm fine." But the words were barely out of her mouth before she visibly shivered, giving away her true feelings.

"Here- take my jumper," he said pulling the lumpy maroon thing over his head and thrusting it into her hands.

"Oh Ron, I couldn't," she said attempting to push it back into his lap.

"Just take it," he insisted.

"Alright… thanks," she said pulling it on. It was so big on her that she could even pull it over her bare legs as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at how her small body was wrapped up in a part of him. She looked adorable and before he could think, he had said it.

"It looks good on you."

He thought he could make out a small blush from the light provided by the moon, but he could have been mistaken.

"You think so?" she asked timidly.

"Well… I – mean it certainly looks better on you, than me."

Her smile faded. "I would keep it then, but…"

"The arena's tomorrow." He guessed correctly.

"Hmm, I won't get another chance to wear it after tonight," she said sadly.

She looked so miserable that he wanted to hold and comfort her so he shakily put an arm around her shoulder and felt her instantly melt into him, even resting her head on his chest.

He gulped. "Hey don't count yourself out- you can still win and get to wear my jumper. I mean you got an 8- that's a really good score. Most people only got 6's…

"Still, Pansy and Lavender are going to be gunning for me so…"

"Hey, don't think like that! You'll have me and Rosie with you- we'll all protect each other, okay?"

"Okay Ron," she said raising an arm and placing her right hand to join her head on his chest. He bit the inside of his cheek hard in order not to let out a groan of pleasure. 'God she was making it hard for him,' never mind the jumper- he was practically boiling now.

"Were allies right?" He wheezed trying his most to keep his voice level.

"Yeah…_just allies_," she whispered almost inaudibly to herself.

A short silence followed in which Ron was in two minds. It felt so incredibly good lying with her but also really awkward at the same time. As they 'cuddled' together, Ron wondered to himself if Hermione actually knew the effect she had on him. Somehow he doubted it; however he was broken from his thoughts by her voice. "Ron what were you doing up here when I found you?" she asked curiously.

"I… was trying some more wand less magic, but nothing's worked though… I don't know how I did it last night."

She seemed to think for a couple of seconds. "I know, it's really strange…I was thinking about it earlier and I just couldn't come up with any explanation of how you could have done it." Not that it matters, I expect you will win even without magic Ron. You did get the joint highest training score, after all."

He gently rested his chin on the top of her head and was glad when she didn't seem to mind. "Scores aren't everything Hermione."

"I know that," she said sleepily. "Still, it's always nice to get the best mark…"

She trailed off so Ron lifted his head peering around at her face; her eyelids were closed and the light from the moon reflected off her milky skin. His breath caught in his throat; he had never seen anything so beautiful before in his life. She looked so peaceful and he wished he could stay holding her forever, never letting anything scare or hurt her. But that wasn't possible. He didn't know what the time was, but he guessed it was pretty late. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't let the both of them fall asleep on a cold rooftop. So he gently shook her whispering quietly, "Hermione sweetie, you can't fall asleep here… we have to go to bed now."

She groaned dreamily. "No- I like it here, it's warm and I feel safe."

She really was making this hard for him; his resolve was breaking and if she asked him one more time he wouldn't be able to resist." No, come on- we have to go Hermione," he encouraged.

She gripped his T-shirt possessively. "Please… Ron can't we stay a little longer?" she begged.

He gazed into her wide brown eyes at her longing expression. He couldn't refuse her. "Okay, but only 5 more minutes, alright?"

"Alright," she said happily burying her face in chest and nuzzling gently into the heat source his body was giving off.

He nervously raised his hand to the top of her head and slowly stroked back some wayward curls. She sighed into his chest turning her head to look up at the night's sky.

"Aren't the stars beautiful Ron," she declared.

"Ye-ah… yo-u…ahem… I mean the stars are beautiful". He caught himself just in time as he glanced down timidly at her trying to see if he had given himself away.

Apparently he had not though, as she started pointing out different features of the nights' sky enthusiastically to him that he would have been oblivious to otherwise. "Look, you can see the North Star and Orion's Belt… oh and you see that orange orb up there… that's Venus."

"Wow, Hermione how do you know all this?" he asked incredulously

"I read." She said simply

"You're amazing- you know that right?" he said gazing down at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

She turned her head to look up at him as her eyes widened. The bright light reflected in them from the moon and the hundreds of stars that littered the night's sky. She almost looked like she was glowing and was looking at him with so much adoration that he really wanted to kiss her. Wait a minute…he saw her head getting closer and her eyelids were flickering shut.

He froze as her lips brushed gently against his own. A small gurgling sound escaped his mouth. She backed up a little looking up at him with dark brown eyes trying to gauge his reaction.

He couldn't move as he was frozen to the spot, completely overwhelmed by her actions.

But before he could respond like he desperately wanted to, the small hands that rested on his chest suddenly pushed him away nearly making him topple backwards onto the floor.

"Wh-at…" he asked stupidly.

But she had already gotten to her feet. "I'm sorry Ron… I shouldn't of-" he saw tears well in her eyes.

"I can't let myself fal-" but the rest of her sentence was carried away by a strong blast of wind.

"Wait! Hermione don't leave yet!" He tried get to his feet but stumbled as he was feeling dizzy from her kiss on his cheek and lips.

But before he could get to his feet she had already climbed down the ladder and was out of sight.

'What just happened?' she - Hermione Granger had just kissed him and then she had run off crying- what was going on? He couldn't get his head around what went wrong, just a minute ago they both seemed to be thoroughly enjoying each other's company. Then the next minute she was brushing up against him, not that he minded one bit, but still he had been so surprised that he hadn't reacted, except for a bare incoherent mumble which he now realised was the worst possible response he could have given.

His mind was in overdrive now. What did this mean and what was she saying that the wind blew away? Tired and completely confused, he stumbled down the ladder and trudged all the way back to his own bedroom, collapsing into his bed, sleep taking him almost instantly.

-OOOO-

He had woken up feeling exhausted and had so practically slept walked his way around for the entire morning which had indeed flown by. He just about remembered that there had been a short ride in a hovercraft and in normal circumstances he would have been fascinated by the experience, but instead a lack of sleep and terrible nerves kept him from him enjoying any of it.

Ron found himself being escorted by Peacemakers and lead down to an underground tunnel just under where he presumed the arena would be.

A guard pushed him roughly into a small room, where Darren was waiting inside.

"Hey," he greeted Ron solemnly. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great," he said honestly unable to make a joke at this time.

"Well, that's to be expected." Darren said with a forced smile. "You have to stand on this platform and it will lift you up into the arena."

Ron looked to the platform, stepping onto it without a second glance.

"So this is the last time I'll be seeing you." Ron said bluntly from the platform.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Darren acknowledged dejectedly, "…keep her safe won't you."

"I'll try," Ron choked "…get her as many sponsors as possible."

"I'll do my best…good luck, yeah." Darren said moving towards Ron and grasping him in a bone crushing hug.

"Thanks for everything Darren… goodbye brother."

"Bye… Ron, I'll see Hermione again soon… yeah?"

"I hope so mate… I hope…so."

Darren released him stepping back from the platform as a glass cylinder encased Ron. The platform started to lift upwards and Ron stared back at Darren through the glass determined not to cry. Darren stood staring back at Ron, seemingly also holding back tears before he raised his right arm and saluted him; even now Darren was trying to raise his spirits before he finally went out of sight replaced by pitch darkness which surrounded him from all sides.

As Ron ascended through the darkness, he thought about how there was only one rule in the arena; wait 60 seconds before moving off your platform. He had one minute left until the sound of a gong released everyone and the games would begin.


	9. Chapter 9: Let the Games Begin

Chapter 9: Let the Games Begin

Bright light blinded him as sunshine blasted his pale skin, sending warming sensations throughout his entire body. Ron squinted through the unforgiving rays, trying to make out his surroundings. But even still, it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light, as the loud booming voice of the legendary announcer, Ludo Bagman, vibrated around the arena. "Ladies and Gentleman…Let the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games begin!"

The sixty second countdown until the games commenced had officially started. Ron looked around surveying his surroundings; he was standing on a single pedestal in the middle of a vast green plain. Twenty-three other platforms surrounded the centre of the broad circle where a towering golden cornucopia lay overflowing with a variety of weapons, food, and other supplies that would be essential for their survival. Scattered around the middle of the circle in large orbital rings was a banquet of provisions all decreasing in value placement. Ron's gaze flicked over some of the 'junk' laying in the grass nearest him, realising instantly that he would have to get right into the very centre of the fray in order to have a chance of getting his hands on anything useful.

He looked around himself, eying up his position in relation to everyone else. Every platform was equally spaced around the cornucopia, each an equal distance from each other and the centre so that no tribute had a distinct advantage for when the gong sounded.

His eyes narrowed looking around the ring more attentively as his thoughts returned solely to Hermione's safety. Glancing nervously around, he noticed that on every pedestal stood either a nervous or an arrogant looking individual tribute. Ron's eyes darted around the circle desperately trying to spot her. 'Where is she?' he murmured as his eyes flicked over several small and scared looking tributes. He then turned and saw a composed Lavender and then to his anger, a gleefully smiling Pansy who was currently rocking back and forth on her heels. Ron noticed that her hands were fidgeting around with an invisible knife and making practice stabbing motions, obviously excited by the prospect of getting her hands dirty with the blood of innocent victims. He removed his gaze from the disturbing sight as his eyes continued their search for Hermione… and there she was… her long chestnut hair blowing in the slight breeze, mesmerizing him. His breath caught in his throat as he watched how she impatiently brushed away one of her own curls from her face and tucked it behind her ear. He groaned in appreciation before mentally slapping himself. 'No!' now was not the time to be taken by her beauty. 'Focus Ron!' he scolded himself, but even still he wasted a couple more seconds, hungrily soaking up her sun dappled appearance.

However, he finally managed to gain some self-control as his tactical mind returned long enough for him to note that she was positioned virtually opposite him on the complete other side of the circle of tributes. He noticed that behind her lay a dense forest and other than the fact she wasn't close to him, she had started in a reasonably good position. He looked over at her nearest competitors standing on the platforms that lay on either side of her, managing a small sigh of relief; thankfully she wasn't starting anywhere near one of the Careers, unlike himself who was positioned right next to a sneering Draco. He only hoped she would have the sense to just sprint into the forest and not get caught up in the opening blood bath.

He didn't know how much of the sixty seconds they had left until the gong sounded and the games would begin; he kept on staring in Hermione's direction, silently trying to initiate eye contact, but to no avail as she was still occupied with taking in her surroundings. She was looking behind her to the forest and then tilting her head to the right towards the vast lake across the plain. 'Look at me,' Ron whispered urgently and to his great surprise her head turned instantly, her brown eyes locking together with his azure ones. He was so taken aback that he could only manage a slight shake of his head and hope that she understood his meaning: 'Run into the forest immediately… don't risk getting caught up in the opening battle;' however, he didn't see her response as in the exact moment the gong sounded and a blur of blond hair beside him blocked his view.

'Fuck' Ron cursed, he had been so preoccupied with Hermione that he hadn't been concentrating fully - he had lost any sort of a head start he could of given himself, as now every tribute (bar himself) was either sprinting to the centre of the cornucopia or towards the dense tree line.

After a second of reaction time, he set off at a startling speed darting towards the centre of the cornucopia. As he ran after the heels of Draco, he thought to himself and not for the first time in his life either, that he was thankful that his tall and long legs enabled him to be a very fast runner. In addition, his long strides meant that he was catching up to Draco and his fellow competitors quickly, so that they were now only just a few feet ahead of him.

He was getting close to the middle of the field as the wind whipped his fringe into his eyes. He had now overtaken many of the weaker tributes, although Draco was still in front of him. He slowed only for a second to stoop down and grab at a pack that lay in the thick grass, throwing the strap over and onto his shoulder as he continued on his dash to the pile of weaponry.

A tortured screech of pain cut through the air and rang out over the tremendous noise of charging feet as he finally succeeded in overtaking Draco, meaning that he was in the lead in the race to the centre. The screaming spurred him to put on a short burst of speed that allowed him to be in arms' reach of the huge pile of weaponry. Ron frantically grabbed at a thick leather belt that held three throwing knives already strapped on it. Fastening the belt quickly around his waist, he saw a flash of light that caught his eye; it was reflecting off an intricately crafted and detailed handle of a sword which stuck out from the pile. Wrenching the sword from the pile along with a long spear, he winced as a second scream of pain pierced his ears. Clutching one weapon firmly in each hand, Ron spun around planning to make a sprint towards the relative safety of the tree line since he had probably wasted too much time in the centre already. He would have to get out of there and fast.

A flash of bleached blonde hair caught the corner of his eye as he turned on his heel losing whatever balance he possessed, as he was hit hard in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. He was now being dragged to the ground by a pair of strong calloused hands, trying to fight back as hard as possible. His padded pack, though, took most of the impact as he hit the ground hard. A large body pinned him to the floor by putting pressure on his wrists, making him lose his grip on his weapons as they fell to the ground next to him just out of reach.

Before Ron could even see who his attacker was (though he had a pretty good idea), a punch rained down on him, catching his cheek bone painfully. He blindly raised his right arm shielding his face to prevent a second blow (though was obviously a mistake), as the next hit left tears pricking his eyes as a knee smashed into his groin. Choking in pain, he felt helpless as his whole body was flipped over while a hand grabbed the hair at the back of his head, forcing it downwards and rubbing his face into the dirt.

Draco's cold drawling voice sounded above him.

"Time for you to die weasel"

Ron grunted in response, spitting out a lump of grass as he managed to get an arm free and swung it backwards. Ron realised (happily) that his elbow made contact with the side of Draco's head, hearing Draco let out a cry of surprise. "Ahhh"

The split second of time when Draco pulled back in pain allowed Ron to roll over onto his back so now he was staring up at Draco, who was still pinning him to the ground. Draco's cold grey eyes locked onto his; with a tight grimace forming on his face, Ron watched, unable to do anything as Draco's right hand reached to his belt to pull a long silver knife from one of the sheaths.

Ron's eyes widened in fear as Draco had him completely pinned. His arms were trapped underneath him and the weight of Draco pressed him into the ground, leaving him unable to shift them.

"Don't worry weasel- I'll make this quick." Draco sneered and raised his knife high into the air so that it hovered dangerously over Ron's heart.

"Fu-ck… you…" Ron growled while tossing and turning and trying to get out of Draco's strong grip.

Draco's eyes narrowed and he leaned his head closer to Ron's, blowing hot breath in his face. "Just for that weasel, when I find Granger…I will make sure her death is as long and as painful as possible. Do you understand?"

Ron let out an animalistic growl as his blood boiled. "Grr-rr" How dare he threaten Hermione! He would make sure that Draco now paid the ultimate price. Draco's head was close to his that he pulled back and smashed his own forehead into Draco's nose; blood spattered everywhere as Draco's nose burst open. Draco let out a strangled yelp, losing his balance slightly on top of Ron as blood poured from his nose and soaked the ground and Ron's t-shirt like a crimson waterfall. The shifting of Draco's weight meant that Ron could now move his right arm as it was no longer trapped at his side. Ron curled his right hand into a fist, preparing to punch Draco as hard as he could; but he was forced to change his plan as he watched Draco raise his knife above his head for a second time and slice it down.

"You'll pay for that Weasley" Draco spat while plunging his knife through the air and on its way to Ron's throat.

Instinctively, Ron ripped his right hand free and caught Draco's wrist in mid-flight, leaving the knife's point inches away from his Adam's apple.

"Fu-ck… you…Weas-ley!" Draco rasped with each heavy breath and brought the knife a centimetre closer to its desired destination.

"Give up…Draco yo-ur…too weak" Ron panted as his biceps bulged with the strain of keeping the knife from piercing his throat.

Draco's face contorted in rage and forced the knife downwards another centimetre, proving Ron wrong.

Ron gulped; he had nothing else to give with all his energy being used to keep the knife at bay. 'This was it' he thought. He was going to die before it had even really started, as he would never get the chance to protect Hermione. Thoughts of Hermione swam around his mind and tears welled in his eyes. He would never get to see her beautiful face again, never be able to just sit and chat with her for hours on end…or be able to hold her in his arms. But the thought he was most scared by? It was that he would never have the chance to feel her lips against his own again… never be able to tell her that he loved her.

No! He needed to see her again just one more time. He gritted his teeth in determination, deciding to make one last ditch effort. Still keeping the knife away from his throat, Ron thought fast and his mind clicked. 'Yes! It was a dirty tactic, but he didn't give a damn …besides as the saying goes "All's fair in love and war" and this was definitely more than just a little bit of both.

Ron pooled a mix of saliva in his mouth and spat as hard as he could at Draco, spraying him in both eyes.

Draco recoiled slightly in surprise and in the fraction of the second that he was caught off-guard, Ron pulled his wrist to the side so that the silver knife missed his throat and plunged harmlessly into the soft ground.

Pure red blocked his vision and his fists became a blur as he was punching Draco relentlessly, not even caring when one of Draco's wild flails grazed the side of his head. He was going to kill this piece of scum, that he was certain. So after one last punch, Ron would grab the knife that was stuck in the ground and finally finish him off. Ron's fingers curled into a fist once more as he pulled back and punched Draco hard in the face, following up with a swift elbow to his jaw. A loud, ominous cracking sound indicated the possibility of a broken jaw and a renewed gush of blood spurted from a large split lip on Draco's once unmarred face.

Draco rolled away crying in agony and clutching his face in his hands so that Ron was now able to sit up. Frantically snatching up the curved knife that lay on the ground, Ron made his deathly move. But as he was prepared to end Draco's life, a blood curdling scream pierced his ears and turned to the source of the noise, spotting Pansy from a distance. She had a black haired girl pinned to the floor and seemed to be ripping her apart with a long knife. Not wanting to be further distracted, he stumbled, turning his attention back to Draco. Panicking, he saw that Draco was crawling away from him, trying to reach the spear that Ron had dropped earlier when he was tackled to the ground. A swift kick to the stomach halted Draco's progress with Draco rolling onto his back grunting in pain. The arrogant blonde haired boy stared up at Ron with fear evident in his metallic eyes.

"Don't… please" Draco coughed spitting out blood in panic.

Ron could have laughed out loud at the sight. This coward was actually going to beg him for mercy when he had just a minute ago promised to kill both him and Hermione.

"Goodbye Dra-co…" Ron sneered while bending over the convulsing boy on the ground, preparing to sink the curved knife into Draco's chest. However as he was preparing to finish him off, an arrow shot straight over his shoulder, causing him to duck quickly. Ron spun around to the direction that the shot was fired. To his surprise, he saw Lavender grasping a recurved bow taking aim once more as he dived to the ground so that the next shot whipped over his head.

"Fu-ck" he grunted as he lay in the dirt. 'How was he going to get out of this one?' there was only one way- make a sprint for the woods and hope for the best. Wrenching a second pack from Draco's broken form and pulling it onto his own shoulder, Ron jumped to his feet before stooping and grabbing the shaft of the spear from the grass as he ran full pelt towards the forest.

Pulling the two packs high up onto his back in an attempt to protect himself, Ron made a run for it by zigzagging through the chaos which was the battle ground. He was running for his life, not caring what lay in front of him. His main goal was to reach Hermione. Running quickly, he had to jump over a facedown and motionless body that lay in a large pool of blood, feeling sick. But not wanting to be distracted, he continued running full speed, seeing the clearing of the forest line. Another arrow though whizzed past, making Ron accelerate faster. He was nearly there now, only a couple of metres to go. Almost out of danger, Ron continued running as he saw a final arrow fly past him and embed itself in the bark of a nearby oak tree. 'That was too close' Ron thought. But again, not caring about his own safety, he continued his mission of locating Hermione.

Ron burst into the woods looking back only for a split second. He saw that Lavender had fallen behind and had given up the chase to return to the centre where the battle still raged on. As he continued his quick pace through the forest, he witnessed a grizzly sight. He saw the huge outline of Cormac who seemed to be strangling two unfortunate tributes with his bare hands simultaneously. And yes, there too was Pansy, torturing a second helpless victim by pinning him to the floor while cutting him repeatedly with a curved knife.

He couldn't turn back and help them though. Hermione was his main priority, so he continued onwards paving his way through the foliage. As he dashed through the thick trees, stray branches and twigs lashed against his bare arms and face, leaving multiple scratches and gashes in his skin (not that he cared). His only thought was to find Hermione. He figured she must have come this way, not giving any thought to the possibility that she was already dead. 'No!' Hermione is strong and stubborn. She would have done everything to keep herself safe' Ron thought, praying he was right.

Ron had run for what he assumed was around half an hour by now. The screams, yells and pleas for mercy had faded into the distance a long time ago so that now only silence surrounded him. However, this didn't calm him one bit but rather made him even more paranoid that someone was following him. These thoughts plagued him so much that he was constantly looking over his shoulder every so often just to make sure that he was completely alone before he could allow himself a minute of rest.

While he cut his way through the forest, Ron contemplated his exit from the centre. In truth, it could have gone a whole lot worse, but it all would have been completely worthwhile if he just could have killed Draco. He silently cursed Lavender. Why did she have to appear at that exact moment and save Draco? A couple more seconds and they would have been a Career down. However, now that he thought about it, he was truly lucky to be alive. Lavender was a very good shot and should have hit him with at least one arrow. 'I mean she missed around four shots.' He would have thought that was impossible since in prior training he had never seen her miss a single time. 'Strange' he thought 'maybe being in the arena was affecting her too' though he disregarded that idea almost instantly. After all, she had been trained from birth for this moment. There was no way that nerves were affecting her so it had to be something else. However, he shook his head, not caring to think about it anymore as he didn't have time to waste.

Ron continued on. Now knowing that he was a safe distance from the centre, he slowed down his pace, figuring no one would be following him. He knew he had run for over an hour now and knew he would have to begin his search for Hermione soon. So Ron forged on further into the woods, desperate to complete his search.

Ron walked carefully through the forest, making sure not to make too much noise. Also, to avoid an ambush, Ron would periodically look up into the trees and around him for anyone hunting him. Wiping sweat from his brow, he trudged onwards. 'God it was hot.' Sweat trickled down his neck and the heat burned his face. He needed water fast, but his need for Hermione's safety prevailed over the need for hydration. He continued through the forest, desperately looking through the trees and the forest floor, trying to spot any sign of footprints that could give him a clue of her presence.

He stopped for a second resting his back against a large tree. After all, he hadn't stopped moving since the gong sounded, setting in motion this horrid task. His muscles ached and his mouth was now as dry as the Sahara Desert. There was no denying or delaying the inevitable any longer; he knew he would collapse from dehydration if he didn't locate some water soon. Pulling the two packs over his head, he bent down and tore open the first one frantically, searching for anything to quench his thirst.

The first pack contained a packet of dried fruits, a compass, some bandages and length of rope. 'Crap' all pretty much useless to him at this moment in time. He then turned his attention to the pack he had stolen off Draco. Ripping it open and throwing out a small sheet of plastic and a wooden bowl, he greedily hurried to get his hands on the sparkling plastic bottle that hid beneath. It was filled up to the brim with gloriously crystal clear life-giving water. He greedily twisted the lid open, guzzling down half a litre in one go before closing it and returning it to his bag. Smacking his lips together like he would do just after eating some of his mother's incredible cooking, he rummaged through the rest of the bags' contents and found a spare belt and a set of throwing knives to add to his collection.

However, to his extreme disappointment, there was nothing like a sleeping bag or a tent that would keep him warm during the night. All of these items were just really basic equipment. He knew he would need to either find a warm place to camp or hunt down another tribute for their equipment. But first, he needed to find Hermione as he just hoped she wasn't already dead. Usually a canon sounded each time a tribute died; however, in the opening bloodbath, canons weren't used as so many tributes died that it was hard to keep count. But he would soon find out who had survived the first day in the evening as he expected that the game makers would project the faces of the fallen onto the nights' sky like they did in previous games. And if Hermione was one of those fallen faces, he would certainly go insane.

At the thought of Hermione dying, Ron was about to stand up to start moving again when he heard a twig snap not too far away. He froze as his hand clasped around the knife in his belt, preparing to attack.

The rustling of leaves and bushes was getting nearer. Crouching down and pulling his packs over his shoulder, he carefully made his way around the gnarled tree and towards the noise. He had previously decided that with the exception of Hermione and Rosie, he would kill whoever crossed his path.

As he moved closer to the noise, the trees started to thin out into a small clearing and so Ron crouched down in a bush waiting for whoever it was to cross his path.

A girl stumbled out into the clearing with a bright orange pack on her back. 'Bloody hell' it was Hermione. Relief flooded through him as he had finally found her and what's more, she looked perfectly fine barring some minor cuts and bruises. He was about to come out of the bush to reveal himself when he spotted a glint of metal in the tree line behind her. Ron's breath caught 'was that the trick of the light? or was it…' his heart stopped as he watched Hermione bending over at a nearby tree checking the contents of her pack, as a boy burst out of the trees holding a glinting sword in his grip. Without a second thought, Ron charged with his knife drawn and let out a bloodcurdling yell. "Arrrggh" he shouted as Hermione screamed as the boy came crashing into her, pulling her roughly to the ground.

A second later, he shoulder charged the boy off of Hermione, punching him in the face as hard as he could as blood splattered his fist and t-shirt. He felt a sickening crunch and a muffled cry of pain indicating to him that he had broken his nose.

His blood boiled, this unknown boy had attempted to take his Hermione away from him, and so Ron without remorse was going to end his life. His fist smashed against the boy's jaw, an ominous cracking sound echoed and a second muffled yell signified the fracturing of bone. His left hand sealed around the boy's neck and without any regret, he aimed his knife towards the boy's stomach watching his knife sink deep into the boy's abdomen. As he lifted the boy up with one arm and smashed his body against a tree, Ron watched the boy's eyes roll backwards as his body slumped to the ground clearly unconscious.

"No-one touches… HER!" Ron seethed not caring that the boy couldn't hear him anymore - the whole capital's audience would see though.

Ron could still see red and so he ripped the knife from the boy's abdomen intending to stab him again, but this time straight through the heart when a small whimper distracted him. Turning around, he saw Hermione in a bundle on the forest floor looking over at him with wide brown pools filled with fear as she cringed, anticipating his final blow to the unconscious boy.

As he delved into her beautiful shimmering eyes, his rage faded and his muscles relaxed as he lowered his arm holding the bloodied knife and limply dropped it. She seemed to calm slightly but when he made a step towards her, she started crawling backwards away from him with a look of terror in her once placid eyes.

"Stay away!" She cried.

Ron gulped as his heart shattered; she was actually scared of him. After finally finding her safe, he couldn't live with the thought that she feared him. "Hermione…it's me…don't be scared…I won't hurt you." He said in his most reassuring voice.

She remained silent, still huddled with her back up against a tree staring up at him with wide eyes.

He tried again to breach the distance, but again she backed up against the tree.

"Don't come any closer." She cried, shaking badly.

'Arrrg' he groaned, he would go mad if he couldn't touch her but he controlled himself by putting her needs first. "Okay Hermione, I'll stay right here…I won't come any closer if you don't want me too." Ron said in a steady voice.

Hermione nodded and got to her feet slowly, her back still against the tree. She was completely unarmed and looking around herself quickly, maybe searching for an escape route before she looked towards him wearily across the clearing. He really believed that she might turn and run at any moment but he couldn't let that happen.

"Don't worry…I'm not going to hurt you. We're allies, remember?" Ron reassured her, silently pleading that she would trust him.

"Ron..." She whispered before he interrupted. "Please, believe me Hermione." He begged. Didn't she realise that he could never hurt her. He beckoned her over needing to feel her body against his again. "Come here…you're safe now." He said holding his arms out wide.

She stood still for a moment longer gazing at him before bursting into tears and running at him, crushing her body into his with such a force that they nearly toppled over together. Her arms wrapped tightly around him so that he instantly dropped his weapons to the ground to return her warm embrace.

"I was so scared Ron." She sobbed into his chest.

"Shush… I know but you're safe now." He said subtly inhaling her intoxicating vanilla scent from her hair while his right hand found its way into her bushy brown mane and lovingly tucked several wayward curls behind her ears.

"No, Ron I was scared for you." She mumbled nuzzling her face further into his chest.

"What... why?" He said lifting her chin upwards gently with his hand so that he could see into her eyes.

"Because I… I…lo-…you could have gotten hurt." She whispered almost bursting into a renewed fit of tears.

He was bewildered by her outburst. "But I'm fine and more importantly so are you." He said, burying his face in her hair once more and finding himself unable to resist her perfect scent.

"I know, I'm really lucky." She said turning her head to the side so that her left ear lay against his chest.

He tilted his head downwards watching her eyelids flicker shut and she sighed contently. "I'm so glad you found me Ron." She purred. Her head still rested on his chest and he couldn't help but think that she might be listening to his heartbeat, almost like she was making sure he was real and alive. The thought warmed his insides but reality returned as they were both still very much in danger; he had indulged himself enough and needed to get his mind back on track.

"Come on Hermione, we should get moving." Ron said sadly detaching himself reluctantly from her grip.

"I guess your right…" She said quietly trailing off and looking over his shoulder.

Ron turned around following her line of vision to the unconscious tribute slumped against the tree where he had fallen.

"What are we going to do with him?" She asked in a small voice.

Ron's eyes narrowed. He knew exactly want he wanted to do to the boy- make sure he could never touch Hermione again. "I don't know. You can decide what we do, but I want to kill him since that's what he was trying to do to you." Ron said making sure he outlined the fact that the boy had no regrets when attempting to kill her.

"Can't we just leave him here?" Hermione asked looking up at him and chewing on her bottom lip.

"I don't know Hermione. It would be wise to make sure that he can't come back and attack us." Ron reasoned.

"I seriously doubt that he will be able to follow us Ron, with that hole in his stomach. Besides, he will probably bleed out before he even wakes up. I just don't want any more blood on our hands." Hermione explained.

"Okay" Ron sighed but didn't know why he was agreeing. She could make him do practically anything with just one look he realized. "We'll leave him…start collecting your stuff, we should get moving as soon as possible."

"Okay Ron" Hermione said scrambling over to where her orange pack lay in the mossy forest floor, while he scavenged the dying tribute's sword and equipment.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready" She confirmed.

They started to move through the dense forest with Ron leading the way. Using his sword, he cut a path through the thick branches and vines that blocked their way.

Hours went by but Ron continued to trudge his way through the never-ending forest with Hermione in his wake. It was so unbearably hot. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he would have thought that the game makers were increasing the temperature inside the arena. 'Let's face it, that's exactly what they are doing' he thought to himself.

A small voice sounded behind him. "Ron…please." Pulling him away from his ponderings, Ron turned to face Hermione. Her hair was wild as sweat poured down her neck, staining her clothes. She looked a mess but even still he had trouble not getting a little aroused by her appearance as she looked so hot and sexy. "What's wrong?" He asked concerned.

"I need to rest, please. We've been walking for ages." She panted while leaning against the trunk of a birch tree.

"I know sweetie but I need to get us as far away from the centre as possible." Ron said starting to walk again.

"Ron! - I need to stop for water." She said more firmly, giving him an icy glare.

Ron grinned. She looked so hot when she was angry. "Okay- here, I have some water". He took the half empty water bottle from his bag and handed it to her. "Sorry, it might be a little warm."

"Thanks" She said not seeming to mind the lukewarm water as she took several long sips from it before attempting to give it back.

"No, you keep it." He said.

"But you must be thirsty too Ron." She guessed correctly.

"Believe me, I'm not." He lied easily. "Besides, you're more important." Ron said voicing the thoughts that he was supposed to keep to himself.

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she frowned. "Excuse me! But how are you not as important as me?" She demanded.

"I… just take it okay- I'll manage without."

She seemed to take offence at his honest opinion of their separate values. Her eyes flashed like she was preparing to argue with him. Maybe a fully flung row would take place if he didn't put a premature end to it. He couldn't let their conversation get too loud and possibly alert other tributes to their whereabouts so he did the first thing that came into his head without thinking.

He closed the distance between the two of them rapidly so that their chests brushed against the others and gently but firmly placed his index finger over her lips to quiet her. He watched as her face changed between shock to anger and then to something he couldn't quite distinguish. Her eyes darkened and his own eyes widened as she flicked out her tongue over his index finger before drawing in into her mouth.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek hard, so not to let out a groan of pleasure. He wouldn't dare make a noise and break whatever spell had been put upon her. She looked up at him with wide puppy dog eyes as she lightly sucked on his finger, her teeth grazing it ever so slightly.

In seconds he was rock hard. 'Holy shit' her mouth was so hot and wet and he couldn't help imaging how amazing it would feel if another certain part of his anatomy could ever receive the same incredible treatment that his index finger was currently being subjected.

She started to take more of his finger into her mouth and he wondered briefly if she knew what she was doing to him. Hell, if she only looked down, she would see his massive arousal that tented his cargo trousers.

He couldn't remove his gaze from her darken eyes which never left his own as she hummed contently, sending incredible vibrations down his finger and around his whole body. Ron noticed that she seemed to be in as much pleasure as he himself was in.

A couple of seconds later and his knees nearly gave way as she began twirling her tongue over the tip of his index finger as he finally let out a moan of pleasure.

His groan seemed to bring her back from her trance like state and she instantly flushed a dark shade of red as his finger popped from her mouth with a look of horror plaguing her features.

"Oh my god Ron - I'm so sorry…I've done it again!" She cried hysterically. "I just couldn't control myself!" She wailed hysterically looking around her frantically like she wanted to run and hide.

He couldn't let her run off, so he grabbed her wrist. "Calm down Hermione, it was my fault too. I didn't stop you. I didn't…"

"So you don't hate me then?" She asked apprehensively.

"Believe me Hermione, I could never hate you." He said keeping his hand on her wrist. 'In fact I love you, you just don't know it yet' he thought to himself.

"Really, so we are okay?" She asked timidly.

"We are fine." He reassured her, but he still wanted to try and prevent it from getting too awkward between them.

"Maybe we should just forget about it." He said although he knew he wouldn't ever be able stop thinking about how her hot, moist mouth encased his finger so deliciously.

"Yes, good idea… probably for the best." She agreed blushing furiously but a tiny smile played around the corner of her lips.

"Come on we should keep moving and find a place to camp." Ron said briskly since he didn't want to risk standing directly in front of her at the present time, not until Ron Jr calmed himself down.

She nodded in reply as a slight pink flush still occupied her skin, but other than that, she seemed to be mostly over her initial embarrassment.

-OOOO-

Light was fading fast and the temperature had fallen considerably as the night drew nearer while Ron and Hermione walked through the forest. They both for the most part had been completely silent since Hermione's little accident as their minds were occupied with mostly inappropriate thoughts.

Ron's mind was currently indulging himself in a fantasy where he and Hermione weren't in an arena but a large four poster bed when suddenly a voice cut through his daydream, crashing him back down to earth.

"Ron, it's getting darker…we should find a place to camp." Hermione's voice was hoarse probably from a lack of water.

"I know, I hoped we would find a cave or something but it looks like we might have to sleep in one of these trees." Ron replied.

The patter of feet behind him froze and he turned wondering what caused her to stop.

Hermione was standing still, her eyes wide and visibly shaking. "Hermione what's wrong?" He asked concerned.

"I'm not sleeping in a tree Ron." She said fiercely.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Don't tell me Hermione that you're afraid of heights?" Ron grinned.

He watched her as she folded he arms across her chest. "Of course I'm not, a fear of heights is illogical" She snipped. "A fear of falling, however…" She trailed off.

It all made sense now as to why she didn't want to attend the rock-climbing session in training.

He laughed. She really was so adorable the way her eyebrows furrowed and her cute little nose wrinkled up when she was annoyed.

"It's not funny Ron. If either of us fell from that sort of height…" she indicated the top of the trees "we could break our necks."

His face paled and his laughter ceased now as he had images in his mind of a broken Hermione on the ground. He gulped. "We won't fall Hermione." He promised as a light bulb flashed in his head. "Hey I know…" he took his pack off of his shoulder and rummaged around for the length of rope he had found earlier. "Here we can use this rope to strap you in so you won't fall down." He suggested amazed by his own genius.

Ron waited as Hermione took the rope from his hands looking thoughtful; she didn't look particularly fond of the idea though but took it. "That should work- but what about you Ron? What would you use?"

He waved his hand in the air. "Oh, I won't need it. I don't plan on falling asleep anyway since someone has to keep watch, don't they?"

"I suppose" She said slowly. "Can you help me up then?" She said walking over to a sturdy looking tree and waited for him to give her a boost.

With one hand on the small of her back and the other supporting her feet, Ron lifted Hermione up onto the bottom most branch of the tree.

He let go and she whimpered. "Oh god- what am I doing?"

"It's okay, I've got you, and I won't let you fall." Ron reassured her standing under the tree with arms wide and ready to catch her if she slipped.

"Okay, I trust you Ron." Hermione said shakily climbing a little higher up the tree and finally settling herself on a thick branch using the rope to secure her to it.

"You alright up there?" Ron asked.

A small affirmative in reply allowed him to hoist himself and their remaining equipment up into the tree.

Ron climbed the tree until he was on a branch directly beneath Hermione's one, smiling at the fact that if any tributes on the ground found them then they would have to get past him first in order to reach her.

They sat for a while watching the light around them fade to darkness until it was almost pitch black, before Ron broke the silence. "You should try and get some sleep Hermione."

"I can't, I need to know what happened to Rosie." She said sadly.

"She will be ok, I know she will." Ron replied not completely believing himself. It was true that he hadn't seen Rosie since the gong sounded but somehow he doubted that a tiny twelve year old girl could survive any amount of time in the deadliest competition known to man.

"You can't say that Ron. She's only twelve years old for goodness sake! How is she supposed to win a tournament like this! It's completely barbaric that they would allow children so young to compete."

"I know Hermione; this whole competition is completely messed up, but don't beat yourself up about it. Rosie's fine…you know how strong she is."

"You really think she'll be okay?" She whispered longingly.

"I know so." Ron said simply.

She sighed and he felt sad that he couldn't give her anymore comfort and so they sat in silence waiting for the dreaded images of the fallen to appear.

The minutes ticked by but eventually the Capital anthem started to play. A headshot picture of the fallen tribute in question would appear projected into the night's sky along with their district number. The Capital's anthem faded away and nine separate canon shots fired, symbolising the nine individual tribute deaths of the day.

Ron felt Hermione reach her hand down from the branch above so that her finger tips brushed against his. Summoning up his courage, he intertwined his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand tightly to mirror her prayers and hoping that Rosie was alive.

The first picture that showed up was the District 3 girl, which meant that unsurprisingly, all the Careers from District 1 and 2 had survived the first night. He had hoped that his injuries to Draco could have meant that someone could have finished him off, but Draco had up to six other tributes in the Career alliance looking out for him. Ron knew he was only kidding himself as he knew that their alliance not only had control of the cornucopia, but possessed all of the equipment that lay in the centre by now as well. They must have found some medicine somewhere that could have healed Draco and there would probably be enough sleeping bags to keep all of them warm. Really, let's face it, they probably had a whole tent. The image changed to that of the District 5 boy meaning both Theodore and Millicent had also survived. The pictures continued to change from the District five girl and then to the District 6 boy who Ron had stabbed after his attack on Hermione. The girl from 6, both tributes from 8 and the girl from 9 joined the deceased as well. Ron counted on his fingers, there was only one more dead tribute remaining. 'Not Rosie, not Rosie, not Rosie' he chanted in his head.

The face of the boy from District 12 appeared and he let out a heavy sigh of relief. Rosie somehow had made it through the first night too. Hermione squealed in delight. "She did it!" She said happily.

"Told you she would" Ron grinned

The two teenagers relaxed considerably as the sound of each other's breathing made each other sleepy.

Ron periodically closed his eyes before remembering that he was supposed to be keeping watch as Hermione's quiet voice penetrated through the shadows. "Good night Ron." She said sleepily and happily in the knowledge that Rosie was still out there somewhere.

"Good night Hermione, sweet dreams." 'I love you.' Ron thought.

When Ron thought Hermione was definitely asleep, he loosened his touch on her hand but she tightened her grip, not letting him let go. He smiled. If she wanted to keep holding hands, that was more than fine with him.

His eyelids drooped, flickering between half open and closed. It was too dark to see anything, so he decided to rely on his sense of hearing. A slight catch in Hermione's breathing signalled that she indeed had finally fallen asleep but her hand still clutched his tightly. He didn't have the heart to let go; besides, he loved how her hands were so soft and fitted perfectly with his own, that it just felt too good to let go.

He was thirsty and starving but so very happy. He had found her. His plan had not fallen at the first hurdle as Hermione was alive and well and even holding his hand as she slept was an added bonus.

Ron thought briefly of the 9 dead tributes, one of whom death's he had been responsible for, not that he felt any guilt. The District 6 boy had tried to hurt Hermione, no tried to _kill _Hermione and so it was justified that he had paid with his own life.

Only 15 tributes remained after the first day, and 13 more would have to die before Hermione would be truly safe as then he could give up his own life for her continued existence. He concluded that maybe sleep was for the best, reasoning that nobody could ever find them; they had walked so far today and really he would need to be alert for tomorrow. But then, Ron grinned stupidly. He thought if he was lucky, an accommodating dream about Hermione would allow him some moments of bliss before reality returned once more. Tiredness finally got the best of him. His body now relaxed, and he took one final look at Hermione's sleeping silhouette as unconsciousness swept over him.


End file.
